Do as I say, not as I do
by Erin Tesden
Summary: After losing against Todoroki, Hitomi knew she needed to reinvent herself to obtain the strength she lacked. And when she met Midoriya she didn't knew exactly what to expect from him, surely not a friend nor a partner... Though, as much as she would like to say otherwise, Hitomi wasn't exactly against the idea. [Quirkless! Midoriya x Fem! Shinsou] (Look At Me Prequel/Sequel)
1. Enter Shinsou Hitomi, Brainwashing User

**Another MHA project. This time a multichapter story to be both a prequel and sequel of my Oneshot "Look At Me".**

**For you that haven't read it, this is a gender bender ship fic with the pairing of Midoriya x Fem! Shinso.**

**I made the art for the cover, but Fem! Shinso (Hitomi) appearance is based on ****nita1234****'s fanart****.**

**Finally, I must give my utmost appreciation to _"_****_EndlessChains__"_ for beta-reading this story!**

**Now, thank you for your time and enjoy!**

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**Chapter 1: Enter Hitomi Shinso, Brainwash User.**

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**Monday, May 11th**

"Hey, man. Isn't that the girl from the Sports Festival?" A random guy with multicolored-hair pointed his finger at her as she passed by.

"Ah... Yeah. Hitomi Shinso, I think." The other guy answered his friend.

Hitomi kept walking, maintaining her tired eyes in front of her while trying to ignore the whispers around her. A pity that didn't help at all.

"...villain's Quirk... scary..."

"...creepy... General Department student..."

"...Cavalry's second place... Endeavor's son..."

"...Kind of cool... pity she lost..."

Hitomi hurried her steps, trying to maintain her cool. If she got more annoyed, she was going to do something that would ruin her already low reputation.

She sighed. Was everyone in the school that damn nosy? Or was she even now still too sensitive to other people talking about her behind her back?

Maybe both.

It was the second school day after her completely and devastating defeat against Endeavor's brat and people were still gossiping about it.

And yeah, surprisingly enough, most of them were impressed about her performance, after all she

was the first General Department student, who knows how much time passed, to reach the Sports Festival's final round.

And she managed to win her first fight versus that 1-A sparkling guy, before going in her very second fight versus Shoto Todoroki, the guy who was considered as one of the top candidates for future Number°1 Hero of her generation.

And yeah, it was nice to be recognized and having other people starting to accept the potential of her brainwashing ability beyond just being labeled as a 'Villain's Quirk'.

What wasn't nice at all was the dark twisted feeling in her gut that yelled she deserved nothing of that praise.

Because even though she didn't cower or doubted her Quirk's strengths, it didn't change the fact that Todoroki still turned her into a popsicle, just a couple of seconds after their fight started. She barely had time to make an off-handed comment about Endeavor and then the fight was over.

'Sorry' he said, his eyes cold and sharp like daggers, before walking away letting her still encased in the ice block.

He didn't seem sorry at all.

It was completely frustrating. And yeah, deep inside she always knew she had a low chance to win against someone like him, but she expected to have at least a tiny chance to brainwash him or punch that bastard's stupid handsome face even once before being frozen...

BUT NO.

And she felt like she could do nothing but blame herself about it because from the start she only had her Quirk and mind to compete against Todoroki. And that was great... But not enough.

For her stupidity and obstination, trying to show the people who despised and feared her that a showy Quirk wasn't everything, she never tried to actively train her physical strength and fighting abilities. She let her excessive confidence in her Quirk and hate for people born with raw talent, strength and luck, like Todoroki, blind her. She didn't prepare enough for fighting in the case that her Quirk was somehow disabled or rendered useless. So the moment she was incapable to get an answer out from Todoroki during those first couple of seconds of the fight, it was already her defeat. Because she didn't have anything to counter his ice attack.

And It was all because she never saw the necessity to go far beyond... To go Plus Ultra... So was she really worth the praise? Or maybe she was overthinking it? Maybe she just never had a chance...? But thinking that way, would be just plain sad and depressing, and not her style at all.

So she accepted that it was her fault and no one else.

Hitomi had passed all weekend searching without much success for a decent martial arts class. Using the rest of her time to roam around her neighborhood on her bike until her legs hurt, as a way to vent her frustration and train if even a little. After which she laid tired in her bed watching old hero documentaries on the TV while petting her Siamese cat.

In those moments Hitomi decided that she was going to do her best to get stronger and overcome her shortcomings.

But that didn't stop her from feeling she was missing something important. Maybe there was something else she could do instead of only focusing on physical training?

She entered her classroom at the same time as her homeroom teacher, and sat in the back part of the room. The class hour passed fast, her mind completely in her own thoughts and problems.

"Remember, those of you who aren't in a club already have until this weekend to find one by yourselves, or I'll add you into any clubs needing members," said the teacher before dismissing them. Then she put her things in her bag and exited the room, feeling somewhat annoyed.

It was simply perfect; even more problems... She just didn't have time to waste in clubs. Not if she wanted to be a hero. Unfortunately for her, it was mandatory for the General Department students.

"Whatever, I still have the whole week to look for a solution." She murmured and started walking towards the exit of the building.

It was then she heard something that caught her attention.

"-So he tells me I should be careful not to keep frying my brain or I could, like, end up becoming permanently stupid or something," said a blonde guy with a black thunder-like lock of hair, who she recognized as a 1-A student.

What was he doing in the General Department building?

"You mean more stupid than usual?" Asked a girl with earphone jacks hanging from her earlobes, a smirk on her face. She was one of the first-year girls from the Hero Course that did that embarrassing cheering thing during the Sports Festival if Hitomi wasn't wrong.

"D-Don't make fun of it. It's damn scary to think about THAT being permanent." He shuddered while the earphone-girl tried to not laugh her ass off at whatever 'that' was supposed to be. In her frustration, post-defeat, Hitomi didn't watch the fight of the electric guy against the vine-girl, so she had no idea. "Anyway, the point is this guy helped me a lot to understand some things about my Quirk that I wasn't sure about." Hitomi stopped walking. "He even gives me some ideas for training and support items."

"All that in just a couple of hours...?" asked the girl incredulously.

"I think he had info about my Quirk from even before the Sports Festival," he said with a slightly worried expression. "He is like a huge hero nerd or something. I mean, he is literally the president of a club about studying Quirks, so yeah... The little guy is a bit of a weirdo but smart as hell..." It was then Hitomi decided to walk towards the two students.

"Hey, you," she said casually, interrupting the conversation. "Can you tell me more about that guy you were talking about...?"

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**Okay that's it for the first chapter. I expect to have portrayed all the characters correctly. In any case I'm waiting for your opinion.**

**Also, I'll try to always finish chapters with one of those anime previews with the characters talking about random stuff. No reason, just for fun.**

**Let your reviews, follow and favorite!**

**And if you want support me you can donate to my Ko-Fi, you'll find the link at my profile.**

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_**Hitomi: Those damn freckles are cute as heck!**_

_**Izuku: W-W-What?!**_

_**Hitomi: I said, "gooses are reckless and rude as heck".**_

_**Izuku: T-That doesn't make sense.**_

_**Hitomi: You being that attractive doesn't make sense.**_

_**Next Chapter: Enter: Izuku Midoriya, Quirk Analyst**__** \- Hitomi will meet one of the dorkiest Club Presidents in UA.**_

_**Izuku: W-Wait, what d-did you say?!**_

_**Hitomi: Nothing.**_


	2. Omake 1

**Well, the first thing, I forgot to say it last time, but usual updates are going to be every two-three weeks,**

**And I say **_**usual updates**_**, because technically speaking, this isn't supposed to be a real chapter but an Omake. **

**Yeah, an omake that end up being kind of the same length that the first chapter... If no even longer... **

**Anyway, these omakes are going to focus on Izuku's POVs and they are going to be published so you have something to read between updates _(They are not going to be regular. Not all chapters are going to have a correspondent omake)_**

**I hope you enjoy it, and I wish you luck and good health wherever you are with the COVID-19 quarantine.**

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**Friday, May 8th**

If it existed an event Izuku Midoriya expected anxiously every year, that was the UA Sports Festival, so the moment he won in a giveaway two tickets for the first-years' event he was positively thrilled, inviting his mother to accompany him.

So many Quirks reunited in just one place for him to pick and analyze them one by one, bit by bit...

He could only laugh in almost mad glee.

And yet, even with powerhouses like Katsuki and Todoroki around, along with the rest of the people from both classes of the Hero Course, Izuku's attention end up focusing on a certain girl from the General Department.

* * *

Saying she was tall would be a euphemism, she was absolutely statuesque. That and her indigo hair making her very easy to spot, not counting on the fact she was being carried by four students through all the obstacle race.

Were they collaborating to make it to the next round...? That seemed an interesting plan, but it was unlikely and weird considering how the girl wasn't making any effort at all.

Izuku even looked for signs of something like a support Quirk being used, but he found nothing.

The girl truly wasn't doing anything to contribute to her team except for giving orders... And now that Izuku was watching attentively, for some reason the rest of them weren't using their Quirks either. They just moved at a slow but constant pace until they made it to the goal, managing to get to the next round despite their sluggish performance.

"It can't be." He murmured. The start of a theory forming in his mind.

* * *

For the second round, the girl switched some of her helpers, but the rest was the same. The members of her cavalry did all the hard (physical) work for her while she just remained in command like a general controlling her troops.

Yes, control was the word he was looking for.

"Mind-control," he muttered, feeling exhilarated.

Most people were just amazed by powerful or flashy abilities like Katsuki's, but Izuku preferred to look beyond that to more complex or utilitarian Quirks.

So he understood that something like a mind-control Quirk could be a real blessing in the hands of a hero. Such potential for winning against any kind of villain, no matter how powerful they were, without having to make use of violence at all.

It helped that, apparent laziness aside, the girl had a good head on her shoulders. Instead of going after Todoroki's team and his ten million points, she took advantage of other teams' distractedness to sneakily steal their headbands. So at the end of the round, her team got second place thanks to their use of stealth and a good plan, leaving Katsuki's team behind in third place by a wide margin, for Izuku's guilty amusement.

To say that he was impressed was an understatement. Izuku couldn't believe that he was in the same department that this girl and didn't know her until now. So many ideas about the stuff she would be able to do with her Quirk with the proper training and advice...!

"Deary, you are drooling," said his mother, Inko, from the seat next to him.

Even after explaining himself, he still felt her mother judging stares for a long while.

* * *

After a little break, the third round finally started.

"Hitomi Shinso," he whispered the girl's name after Present Mic mentioned it. It was a cute name... Ominous, but cute.

In any case, in her first fight, Shinso was pitted against Aoyama Yuga, who, despite his weird flamboyant personality, had a strong Quirk.

"I know it's going to sound weird to say this in such a situation, but I would like to request your help to find clothes to combine with my hair color," said the girl, ignoring Present Mic's scandalous voice while presenting them.

"Oh, it's going to be a pleasure! " Answered the boy happy.

"START!" yelled the Pro-Hero.

"Do you think light pink would suit me?" Asked the girl, not reacting at all at the fact the battle had already started... She seemed unnaturally unconcerned.

Sadly for Aoyama, he didn't notice the girl's weird behavior.

"Fu, fu, we have a lot to talk about after this, ma chère-." Suddenly the boy paralyzed and turned expressionless.

"That sounds nice, but for now... Walk out of the platform." Shinso ordered, and he did.

She had won in only four seconds, and now Izuku's theory was confirmed.

* * *

**Sunday, May 10th**

The rest of the tournament passed pretty fast after Shinso lost against Todoroki.

It had been unfortunate because he would have liked to see more of her. He just wished the girl had managed to learn something out of the Sports Festival... If she didn't let this defeat discourage her and worked harder, Izuku was sure she would be a great hero in the future.

About the fight of Katsuki versus Todoroki, it was objectively amazing and a perfect closing for the Sports Festival, but the fact that Todoroki had refused to use his fire-side at the end had ruined it for Izuku... And apparently for Katsuki too, considering his perfect imitation of a rabid dog during the awards ceremony, even though he had won the first place.

In any case, Izuku took the rest of that day and the next two to collect, review and archive video-recordings of the whole Sports Festival. Getting at least one video of each event, besides looking for different videos on the participants that called more of his attention.

Eventually, Izuku ended up looking for mainly videos about Shinso, even though he actually didn't notice it.

Then someone knocked at his door.

"Excuse me, deary, can I enter? Your washed clothes are already dry."

"Um, yeah. Of course." He mumbled most of his attention on the screen of his PC that displayed the fight of Shinso vs Todoroki.

He felt kind of bad looking at the girl's defeat, but at least the video provided him with some info about how her Quirk worked.

Unfortunately, there were not many recordings about Shinso in general, having gone somewhat unnoticed when compared to the students from the Hero Course. It was infuriating, but expected.

"Hmm, I see..." Izuku turned to catch her mother looking at him knowingly.

"Um, what?" He asked, a bit disconcerted. He didn't like it when her mother put that kind of expression.

"You are making me remember when I met your father." She sighed happily, leaving Izuku completely out of the loop. "He was so handsome and kind. And he was so tall, too, that I couldn't stop but thinking all the time about him and me cuddling and how amazing that would be!"

At that moment, Izuku somehow felt even more awkward and uncomfortable than the time his father talked with him about sex and relationships stuff through video-call.

"M-Mom, what-?"

"It's fine, Izuku!" She grabbed him by the shoulders, her face red. Wasn't he the one supposed to be embarrassed at this...? "There's nothing wrong about liking a girl taller than you. In fact, having a taller partner can be wonderful."

What followed were his useless attempts at trying to convince his mother that he didn't like Hitomi Shinso.

Because he, of course, didn't like her...

Though after dreaming that night about the girl surrounding him in a warm and comforting hug, he

was going to need a bit of help to convince himself of that...

* * *

**Seems someone got a crush! **

**Anyway, I hope you like it, review, follow and favorite****!**


	3. Enter Midoriya Izuku, Quirk Analyst

**To 26/03/2010 =**

**Reviews: 6**

**Followers: 65**

**Favorites: 47**

**Reads: 1103**

**Thanks for your support, and to EndlessChains for beta-reading the story. Now lets start!**

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**Chapter 2 - Enter: Izuku Midoriya, Quirk Analyst.**

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**Monday, May 11th**

Once on the third floor of the building, she walked towards the end of the hallways.

There she found it.

'Quirk Research Club', said on the door, a cartoony All Might above the letters. She tried not to snort about how dorky it looked and knocked on the door.

Izuku Midoriya; he was the person she was looking for.

She didn't know much about him besides the stuff the blonde electric guy -who she would refer to as Pikachu from now onwards- told her; apparently, he was a first-year in the General Department just like her, but in a different class.

"Anybody there?" She asked when nobody opened the door. "Huh." She twisted the knob, and to her surprise, the door opened with ease. "Okay. Sorry for entering." She pulled it slowly, and then her eyes saw the inside of the room.

Based on what Pikachu said, she expected the place to look like a hero fan club or something, but it surely exceeded her expectations...

It looked exactly as if a hero fanboy just moved all their belongings to the room and decided to live in there.

The left-part of the room was occupied by two shelves full of hero figures and toys, most of them about All Might and a bookcase with what seemed to be a collection of hero-related books and magazines, besides some weird notebooks.

The front part of the room included a little kitchen and next to it a door which seemed to lead to a bathroom.

Just in the middle of the room, there was a little tea table and around it a pair of sofas and chairs.

The wall with the entrance was full of framed pro-heroes' autographs.

And finally, the right part of the club room had a desk with a lot of papers full of small packed writing and kind of cool drawings lying around; and an old PC with a lot of sticky notes on it. Next to it was a blackboard with some schemes and diagrams with info about Pikachu's Quirk.

So yeah, this guy seemed to be the real deal. If someone could direct her, if even a little, about what to do to get stronger it would be this guy.

The only problem was the fact that he wasn't here.

"Where are you?" She looked around, without hiding her curiosity.

In the end, the autograph covered wall won her full attention.

Not surprisingly, All Might's was at the center. What was surprising was the fact this Midoriya guy collected most of the top thirty pro-heroes' autographs. It was completely absurd to think how resourceful someone needed to be to actually pull something like that... Like, did he stalk pro-heroes all the time and everywhere they went until annoying them enough to get their signings? How the hell did he even get Endeavor's? A satanic ritual or something? She had the slight impression that one was rare enough to be worth some millions of yen...

She turned around when she heard some steps getting closer.

Then her eyes went wide open as she caught a bulky blond man with blue eyes and dressed in a USA-colored spandex uniform going into the room, his smile and peculiar haircut hard not to recognize.

She almost yelled at actually meeting All Might for the first time since starting going to UA, when she noticed how stiff he seemed.

It was just a real-sized cardboard All Might being pushed into the club room by a smaller figure hidden behind it.

She just observed while the new person got the damned thing inside without noticing her presence.

He was kind of small for a boy. Not too much, but still about 10 centimeters smaller than her. Greenish black (or was it blackish-green?) disheveled hair and huge red shoes on his feet that contrasted heavily with his baggy, but in-norm school uniform.

He put the fake All Might at the center of the room and back-pedaled a bit to watch it better.

"...Where should I put you?" He murmured, still not noticing Hitomi even when she was about a meter to his left.

"Wherever you put it, it's going to be disturbing, anyway." She answered the question fully knowing the guy would freak out. Maybe she was a bit pissed off about not being noticed.

He didn't disappoint. The moment her voice registered to him, he jumped sideways and crashed against the bookshelves, most of the books falling on him.

Again, she tried not to snort and just stared while the poor guy tried in a panic to take off the notebooks on him.

"Hey, calm down. Don't go and die on me." She walked calmly towards the guy and took a book from his head finally being able to see his face.

Her dark eyes meeting his green ones. His face was kind of childish with his cheeks full of freckles... The word 'cute' came to her mind and she crushed the thought as fast as she could.

She moved her hand towards him, intending to help him stand up when the boy finally seemed to process the situation and went stiff, and panic appeared in his eyes again... Or was it fear...?

The boy didn't take her hand. Instead, he stared at her worriedly, as if he feared she would do something awful to him. That was enough for her to lose her good mood and feel her gut clench.

She really couldn't even remember how many times other people had looked at her with that same kind of expression... And as indifferent as she normally acted, deep inside she still wasn't completely used to it.

Even now it hurt.

"Hey, I don't bite," she said with a smirk devoid of humor, avoiding his gaze and trying to sound unaffected. Even though she just wanted to walk away of that damn awkward situation.

Then just a moment before she finally gave up, the shy boy finally took her hand.

At that moment, their eyes crossed again, and she almost dropped him in the middle of pulling him up.

Those stupid big green eyes, they looked ridiculously expressive and full of kindness up close. The worry was still in them, but its focus seemed to have shifted somehow. Like he wasn't worried for himself anymore... But for her.

The pink that covered the boy's cheeks wasn't helping her to keep on with the neutral mask.

"Thought you were going to leave me standing here with my hand extended like an idiot." She commented while openly staring at the guy, following each of his movements, knowing fully well she was getting him nervous. She was just slightly curious about the boy's whole behavior.

"S-Sorry!" Midoriya bowed, red-faced and panicked. Exactly the reaction she expected.

The guy was a complete sack of nerves, that was obvious. But there was something else;

something off about him...

"It was my fault, so no need to apologize," she said, only receiving another 'sorry', to her amusement.

"I s-should pick these up," he said in a low voice while trying to avoid her eyes.

It wasn't the first time someone did that around her either. She remembered some idiots that believed she could control them just by looking at their eyes. It would be awesome for her Quirk to be that OP, sadly it wasn't the case.

However, something she found curious and unusual, was that instead of avoiding her eyes like the plague, Midoriya was trying to watch her furtively while picking up the books from the floor, stopping himself and looking somewhere else every time he noticed her staring back.

She snorted with amusement and moved towards him, then crouched, trying to ignore the fact she was using a skirt and picked up a book from the floor.

'Hero Analysis for the Future N°6', it said on the cover. She lifted an eyebrow, that was a curious title. And there were a lot of other similar notebooks sprawled on the floor...

Midoriya stiffened, noticing her at his side, and after a second, he slowly lifted his head to look at her.

"Where?" She asked calmly.

He blinked and after another moment extended his arm and pointed towards the upper part of the bookcase.

"T-There." She nodded, stood up and put the book in its place. Then crouched again and continued helping the trembling and nervous green-haired boy.

It was amusing... Truly amusing.

Because now she was finally starting to get it.

The guy wasn't scared of her... Well, he was, but not really.

He was nervous. But it wasn't the usual 'this weird, scary girl is going to snap at me and hurt me' kind of nervous.

He was nervous about her closeness because she was a girl.

This was probably the first time she caused such a reaction to a boy... And she was kind of enjoying it.

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**I hope you like it! Remember left your reviews, follow and favorite.**

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_**Hitomi: You are absurdly good at doing Quirk**__**'s**__** analysis.**_

_**Izuku: I-I**__**'**__**m just a good observer. **_

_**Hitomi: Enough to guess my body measurements?**_

_**Next chapter: **__**Quirk Assessment - Part 1**__** \- Izuku will make an analysis.**_

_**Izuku: Wha-...?! I'm not g-going to answer that q-question.**_

_**Hitomi: He, you already did.**_


	4. Quirk Assessment

**To 07/04/2010 =**

**Reviews****: 14**

**Followers****: 79**

**Favorites****: 59**

**Reads****: 2037**

**Thanks to James Birdsong, Necrogod, dperson3569, EndlessChains, StandUpKeepMovingForward and Yomunot for letti****ng the reviews**

**And all of you for your support. Especially to EndlessChains for beta-reading.**

**Originally this was supposed to be a two part chapter, but what the heck, better to post it as one. I like it more like this.**

* * *

**Chapter 3: Quirk Assessment**

* * *

She was sitting on the surprisingly comfortable sofa watching Midoriya going around the room nervously trying to prepare tea for her, making an awesomely accurate imitation of a headless chicken.

She would laugh if she wasn't worried that it would make the guy die for the embarrassment or something. That didn't stop her from finding the whole situation incredibly amusing.

"F-Finally" Midoriya sighed and took the teapot to fix her something to drink.

She couldn't help but watch him with slight fascination. The guy had practice, not even spilling a drop. Add the plate with absurdly delicious cookies he had settled before and he was already treating her better than anyone else she had known before besides her parents.

"S-Sorry for the wait," he said and sat down on the chair at the other side of the table.

"It's fine. Thanks." She took the cup and drank a bit. The little guy knew how to make good tea too! "I suppose you know who I am, don't you?" Hitomi said pointing to herself.

She was sure of what the guy's aouldoistill ng to be, but wanted to make sure.

"O-Of course! C-Congratulations for your performance at the Sports Festival, S-Shinsou-san!" He bowed, not noticing the small frown that appeared on her face for an instant before she put a neutral expression again. "Y-You did a fantastic job!"

It would be unfair to take the frustration she felt for her defeat out on the poor guy whose words seemed so sincere. So much that it was kind of embarrassing.

"Thanks. Are you a fan or something?" She asked sarcastically.

But the guy just blushed and remained silent while looking at his feet.

Apparently, he was a fan, indeed? It was both weird and flattering to say the truth.

"Anyway," She coughed to get his attention, covering her slightly pink cheeks with her hand. "Midoriya Izuku, was it...?" He nodded. "I heard about you from Pikachu and thought about paying a visit."

"Eh, P-Pikachu?" He repeated, confused.

"You know. Blond hair, stupid, and with a really punchable face." She expected he would understand. "Electric Quirk. Apparently he becomes even dumber when he uses it too much or something like that." She added after the guy just tilted his head with confusion.

"AH! Are y-you talking about K-Kaminari-san?" He gestured to the blackboard, causing her to snort.

Midoriya wasn't even trying to deny her description of the other boy.

"Yeah. Kamirani" Midoriya repeated 'Kaminari', but she just ignored him. She was going to forget the blond's name by the end of the day, anyway. "told me you helped him a lot with his Quirk."

"D-Did he? It wasn't t-that much, really." He scratched the back of his head.

The guy was modest too.

"That's not what he said, but anyway I was wondering if you could give me a bit of advice too, Midoriya."

The boy had seemed surprisingly agreeable until now, but was he going to help her?

"Do y-you want my help?" Instead of the straightforward negative answer that she would expect from any other person, Midoriya only seemed slightly confused, as if incredulous of her petition.

Well, that was a huge improvement, considering everything.

"If you have the time-"

"I-IT WOULD BE A PLEASURE!" He practically yelled while doing a deep bow.

"Ok. Kamirani-."

"'Kaminari'." Corrected the boy gently.

"Kamarini said you knew practically everything about his Quirk from just observing him at the Sports Festival. So what do you know about mine?"

"Hmm." The nervousness suddenly disappeared from the boy's face while he seemed to collect his thoughts. "...Okay, your Quirk allows you to control other people's actions, making them unable to refuse your commands." Midoriya was talking faster than before. His voice still clear enough, but it seemed as if he would start mumbling at any moment. Hitomi felt slightly weirded out about it.

What happened...? It was like Midoriya turned into a completely different person... The guy wasn't even stuttering anymore!

Also, normally people were uncomfortable talking about her Quirk. Most of the time, they tried not to even mention its existence. So she expected Midoriya to be even more awkward and shyer than before. But instead, he was talking about it as if it was nothing.

"About Capacity, by what I saw during the Obstacle Race and the Cavalry Battle, you could control up to four people -though I would expect for five or even six to be your actual maximum- for around 10-15 minutes during each round, having only about a couple of minutes to rest, and still you were not affected negatively at all. So I can't determine the exact limits of your Quirk, but considering similar ones, I would expect you to be able to keep using it for around 45 minutes or even an hour without stopping. It would make sense that the more people you control at the same time, the faster you reach that limit. In any case, comparing it to the other mind-controlling Quirks I know, I could argue yours is probably the stronger of its type. Can't even imagine how much you trained it to reach that level!"

...Okay, it was definitive. She somehow got a concussion and was imagining all of this or something, because there was no way in hell someone could be so enthusiastic while talking about her Quirk. Not even she was like that, and Hitomi loved her Quirk despite its inconveniences and the infamy that had brought her.

"Drawback: Let's see… Considering another mind-related Quirks drawbacks, I would expect some kind of mental exhaustion upon prolonged use. Also, during the cavalry and the race, I noticed how you were constantly issuing new commands every few seconds and all the while your teammates never used their Quirks, so I deduce the controlled people can only follow simple commands, which exclude the usage of their Quirks and more complex orders. Also, I noticed how during the Cavalry Battle, you lost control over one of your teammates -Ojiro-san- after he bumped someone from Team Tetsutetsu, so it seems strong impacts nullifies its effect… Conditions of use: About this, it took me a while to understand how it worked. Actually, I only did it after watching the repetitions of your fights against Aoyama-san and Todoroki-san. The first theory I discarded was tact, because you didn't try to get close to any of them. Then I discarded vision because you didn't seem interested in maintaining visual contact, either. Besides, I didn't catch any kind of change in your eyes, which is the norm while using ocular related Quirks… Finally, it had to be sound. I'm only theorizing, but If I have to explain it, I would say you can probably add some kind of subliminal message to your voice that shuts down people's minds and lets you hijack them. It makes sense, considering the first thing you did in both fights was to talk with your opponents. But then why your Quirk worked with Aoyama-san and not with Todoroki-san? I looked for differences in both fights, and I finally got the answer. The subliminal message doesn't work by itself, it needs to be activated and to do that the target needs to answer back to you." He stopped his explanation, a smile on his face so stupidly bright that it was almost awkward to look directly at him.

She wasn't even sure what to say... So she said nothing and just stared at him.

The guy was a genius, there were no doubts about it.

"...Yeah." Suddenly the Quirk-King left the building and Midoriya returned to be the same shy guy from the start. "Is t-there something wrong with what I said?"

"...Did you notice how you didn't stutter even once while talking about my Quirk?" She asked.

"...N-No...?" Half said and half asked Midoriya, with an expression she didn't know how to describe besides 'adorable'.

Yeah, that was pretty much her limit.

She covered her face with her hands while trying not to laugh or giggle. She didn't giggle.

"Eh! A-Are you fine?!" The boy saw her shoulders tremble and stood up from the chair with a worried expression.

"Y-Yeah, please just give me a moment..." She took a minute to calm herself and recover her poker-face. "...Ok. What can I say? You were right in practically everything, Midoriya." She drank a bit of tea from her cup while observing how the boy's face brightened. Being sincere to herself, he looked kind of handsome when he smiled. "There are some things I should tell you, though..." With a determined expression on his face, Midoriya moved hurriedly towards the chair where he placed his schoolbag before.

"What are you doing?" She asked while he rummaged through the All Might themed bag.

"I need m-my notebook to update my previous analysis." He took out a notebook with a big '17' on the cover and a pencil. "...W-Well" His expression turned sheepish. "...Only If y-you don't mind that I do..."

"...Suit yourself." She shrugged after a moment and the boy sat again with a small smile on his face. Then he opened the notebook, took the pencil in his right hand, and faced up expectant of everything she would say.

The little guy could be really intense when he wanted.

Not that she disliked it.

She just tried to remain neutral and ignore the weird giddy feeling she felt in her chest while the boy gave her all his attention.

"Let's see… Before starting, I don't think it's that important, but my Quirk is registered by the name of Brainwashing." Apparently it was for him, because Midoriya started writing in his notebook immediately. "The activation works exactly as you explained. Though I have to admit, I never thought about the specifics before. About my Quirk's drawback, like you said, it tires me and It can even make me fall unconscious if I use it too much, though I haven't experimented any of that in years. But about its limits…" Midoriya slowly got closer, his eyes shining with curiosity. "I have no idea." The guy almost struck his head against the table at her comment.

"W-What do you mean?" He asked, somewhat confused.

"I don't know the limits of My Quirk." Izuku tilted his head slightly, so she elaborated. "...I have only passed out for over-using it once before. And that was when I was only five years old and used Brainwashing for the first place," she said, her expression uncaring, though she felt sick at remembering that awful event. "So I don't know how much I can currently use my Quirk nor how many people I can control before starting to feel strained. Though I found that I can only get under my control one person at a time. I tried with two at the Sports Festival and all I got was an awful headache." Midoriya seemed thoughtful at the new info and write it. "...Talking about the Sports Festival, now that I think about it, it was the time I used my Quirk the most in all my life." Suddenly Midoriya stopped writing and his eyes opened wide at her.

"I-Is that so...?" She nodded. "S-Sorry if I'm being nosy, but how many times have you used Brainwashing before, Shinsou-san?" She raised an eyebrow and then looked at the ceiling while thinking about it with a slightly tired expression.

Normally that would be a dumb question. Exactly the question someone could answer with a cheesy comment like 'Do you remember how many slices of bread you ate in your life?'. Or at least that would be the case for a normal person, and she was anything but normal.

For some people it would be hard to believe, but she could count with her hands the number of times she had used her Quirk before the Sports Festival. It was expected, considering she couldn't just use it carelessly without getting into troubles...

The very first time she used her Quirk had been while playing with her 'friends' at the kindergarten when she was only a little brat.

When the doctor told her and her parents that she could control people's minds, she felt like it was the end. She had a villain-like Quirk. She couldn't be a hero… Her parents tried to comfort her, but she just didn't want to hear them at the time.

The next day, when she went to kindergarten all the kids seemed to know about her Quirk. They shunned and kept far away from her. That only made her feel even worse than before...

Seeing her sadness, worry, and fear, her parents took a week to help her with her Quirk. She was truly apprehensive about it, but they didn't want her to hate or fear her own Quirk nor wanted her to get into trouble because of it, so they let her use Brainwashing on them to help Hitomi understand how it worked, and then taught her to be responsible and never abuse of her power.

'Replace that ugly frown with a cute smile, Tomi-chan!' 'Heroes need to smile, Hitomi! Don't you wanna be a hero?' They both gave her all their support. Her mother was as sweet as ever and her father even more obnoxious than normal.

They were one of the reasons she didn't give up about being a hero…

Multiple times after that her parents had offered to let her practice on them again, but she didn't feel comfortable enough about doing that and rejected their help.

So she didn't use her Quirk again for about 6-7 years… Until the incident... She didn't want to think about that.

"Are you fine, S-Shinsou-san?" She looked at him. "...Y-You seem troubled." The worry was clear in his eyes.

"I'm fine." Midoriya didn't seem to believe her. "To answer your question, if I'm not mistaken, I have only used my Quirk around nine or ten times before the Sports Festival, practically all of them while I was still just a little girl."

Izuku stood up suddenly with an incredulous expression.

"R-Really!?" He asked with great intensity and she just nodded slowly "Can't be..." He sat again, looking pensively at the table. Suddenly he started writing hurriedly on the notebook while muttering incomprehensibly.

"Ok, what happened...? You are scaring me a bit." She slowly moved away from the boy.

"I-It's your Quirk!" He exclaimed at her, happy as a clam.

"Ah, my Quirk!" she repeated, faking astonishment. "What about it?"

"It's m-more awesome than I thought."

"Thanks?" She didn't get it.

"I already found B-Brainwashing incredible, but this makes it even better...! To think of such potential..." Midoriya seemed as if he could kiss his notebook -or her- at any moment. So she didn't know exactly what to do.

"I still don't understand anything of what you are saying. Could you give me a bit of context?"

"Ah! S-Sorry!" He finally seemed to calm down a bit. "I already told y-you before that Brainwashing was stronger than other similar Quirks, but I didn't get in specifics, did I?"

"Nope, you didn't." She shook her head. "I didn't even know that there were others like me." She knew there were a lot of villains with mind-controlling Quirks on cartoons and live-action shows, but she knew nothing about actual people with Quirks like hers.

Truth is, she always had felt uncomfortable at the idea of searching for people with mind-controlling Quirks on the internet and the possibility of only finding villains. So she chose to be in the dark about it.

"T-There are!" He nodded excitedly. "Not in J-Japan, but telepath heroes are common in Occident."

"Telepaths?" She had heard the term before but wasn't sure about what that implied. But she was slightly relieved that he had said heroes specifically, it gave her a bit of hope.

"Yeah! T-They possess a variety of mental-related powers, from reading minds to controlling them, and even modify memories along other similar abilities." She opened her eyes in surprise. She knew the USA was chaotic, but having a lot of those telepaths roaming around sounded excessive, even if they were heroes.

"Wait, if they can do stuff like that, doesn't that makes me weaker than them?" she said, and the boy frowned slightly.

"No. N-Not really. The quantity won't ever win against quality. They have complex Quirks with various abilities, that's true, but when talking about mind-control specifically, most of them can only control up to one person, two at the most, while you can control four or even more. T-That's the reason you are amazing!"

"Um, I see..." Now she was the one blushing... Just perfect.

"B-But that's not all that I wanted to say." Midoriya added, already calmer.

"Geez, if you keep saying nice stuff about me and my Quirk I'll start to believe it." She tried to make a joke of the situation.

"I mean it," he said seriously, and she almost wanted to hide her face from his green bright eyes. "...Have you heard about muscles used as analogies to describe how Quirks work?" He asked. And she closed her eyes with a thoughtful expression, happy that the guy didn't comment about the way she reacted to his words -assuming he even noticed it.

"Do you mean like _'the more you use them the stronger they get'_?"

"Exactly." Midoriya nodded. "That's how most Quirks are... Except for y-yours."

"What do you mean?"

"The first time you used Brainwashing you passed out instantaneously, right?" Hitomi nodded, surprised at his words.

"How did you know?" He only smiled.

"I just g-guessed. A lot of strong Quirks are like that... But what about the next times?"

"I always felt tired after just a couple of minutes... In any case, Mom and Dad always stopped me before I passed out, so I didn't think too much about it."

"...And yet, years after that and with no more practice, you can use Brainwashing for almost half an hour with no repercussions."

Hitomi finally got what the boy was trying to say.

"My Quirk got stronger for no reason… How?"

"I think it was Brainwashing's natural passive growth. It g-got stronger while you were growing up. Being a mind-related Quirk and not a physical one, it makes sense."

"...Ugh. Getting stronger by doing nothing but getting old, sounds incredibly anticlimactic." She let herself sprawl out on the sofa. She knew he was right because everything fitted perfectly, but she didn't have to like it.

"That doesn't mean B-Brainwashing can't grow with effort!" She straightened. "All Quirks get stronger by hard work, physical or not. So if Brainwashing has a natural growth that big, its potential to evolve with actual practice should be at the same level or even greater!" Midoriya wrote on his notebook at a high speed "Increase of Brainwashing's limits -both duration and number of people you can control-, being able to activate its effects on two or more people at the same time, make it more difficult for people to free themselves, and increase the capacity of brainwashed people to follow more complex orders and even use their Quirks. All of those and more could be real possibilities if you practice with Brainwashing."

She felt greatly amazed and exhilarated for a moment until reality settled in.

"Ugh." She took her face in her hands in complete frustration.

"E-Eh. D-Did I say something wrong, Shinsou-san?" Midoriya seemed worried about her reaction.

"No." Answered Hitomi, harsher than she had intended. Then she sighed, calming herself "Everything sounds truly awesome, but if I'm supposed to practice using my Quirk then it's all useless."

"W-Why?" Asked Midoriya incredulous.

"Because where am I supposed to find someone to use my Quirk on?"

"Eh… T-There has to be someone that would accept to help you." He answered, but he couldn't be more wrong.

"Nope. I'm not going to bother my family with this, and the people in my class already fear me enough without me trying to actually mind-control them. Besides, the last thing I want is to get expelled for using my Quirk illegally."

"And what about your friends?" He asked innocently, and she flinched.

How easy it could be to hurt a person without even intending it.

She just laughed; a grim dry and humorless laugh.

"...Nope. I don't think so…." She deadpanned. "I have none." Then Hitomi took her bag and stood up, unknowing of how to feel.

Meeting Midoriya was interesting, that was for sure, so she didn't regret her visit.

But if he was right -and she doubted the guy could be wrong about anything Quirk-related- Brainwashing had a huge potential she was wasting by not doing anything with it. But what exactly could she do about it when she had no one to help her? ...She felt cornered, and she hated it.

"Thanks for the info, and the tea and cookies… Thanks for being so nice about everything. And sorry for wasting your time," she said, as expressionless as always, though her words were sincere. "See ya." She turned and walked towards the exit.

It was then she heard Midoriya saying something.

"What?" She asked, turning around. Midoriya's voice was low, and what she understood of his words made no sense.

"I s-said… I can help you." He answered calmly, the worry for her clear in his eyes, just as before.

For a moment Hitomi was paralyzed in shock. Then she shook her head and returned to normal.

"Haha, that was a good one." She laughed fakely and moved towards the exit again.

"I w-wasn't joking!" She flinched at the force behind his voice and then turned a second time.

"No, you are! Or you must be. Otherwise, you are completely nuts!" And the stoic and uncaring facade she always used like a shield just went out of the window. Her face finally reflecting her real emotions against her will.

"W-Why would I be crazy for wanting to help someone?" said Midoriya patiently, making her feel exasperated. He was acting like she was only a small child throwing a tantrum, and in a way, she felt like she was. But she couldn't just accept his words so easily.

"Because no one in their right minds would want to be mind-controlled! Only a pervert would." said Hitomi matter of fact, glaring at him with as much ill intent as it was possible for her. But while others would tremble in fear at her open hostility, he actuallt seemed offended.

"I'm not a p-pervert! ...And i-it's not like I want to be mind-controlled… I j-just don't mind." He explained, and she just felt more confused than before.

"That doesn't make sense... YOU are not making sense!" Hitomi pointed at him. "What do you even win by helping me?" She asked, feeling already emotionally tired.

"I don't intend to get anything out of this," he said calmly and his words seemed sincere, to her utter desperation.

"There must be something..." She muttered, and he frowned slightly before relaxing.

"...I l-love heroes. I have always loved them since I was a kid. So if I had to say something, by helping you I can get the satisfaction of knowing I'm being useful to others who can be what I can't…" said Midoriya, sheepishly. She was without words for a moment. It was a simple answer full of sincerity and it fitted perfectly with Midoriya's behavior. But there was something about his words that intrigued her. "...Also, this way I can show the people that called me u-useless all the time, that they were wrong." He added, more seriously.

"Why would someone call you useless?" She couldn't find a reason for that.

Midoriya knew Hitomi wanted to be a hero, that was her reason to take part on the Sports Festival after all, and apparently he wanted to be one too, but couldn't... Why?

"...I'm Quirkless," he said, his voice serious, and for the first time, his expression was guarded… He expected -or feared- that she would react badly to his status.

Luckily for him, she was the last person who would judge someone for something like that.

"Huh. I thought you had an intelligence Quirk." She commented in a neutral tone. She was sure Pikachu thought that too.

"A lot of p-people assume that... And I rarely correct them. I don't like it, but It's just e-easier like that," he said shyly. It was obvious that Midoriya felt especially awkward talking about it… But he still chose to tell her just so she could trust in him…

"So it's not genetic. You are just that smart for your own account." The boy seemed to calm and relax a bit at her words. "Damn, you are the amazing one." The comment escaped her mouth, causing Midoriya to blush like a tomato "...And you don't fear my Quirk at all, do you?" She asked though it was obvious he didn't.

"...W-Why would I?" He asked, once the blush in his face had receded a bit.

"Because it's scary… I know it is. It takes people's free will and locks them inside their own minds so they can't do anything about it... So as much as it frustrates me, I can understand why some people think Brainwashing is a villainous Quirk-"

"No Quirk is villainous," he said with conviction "Any Quirk can be used for bad or good. It's the user who decides what to do with them… And you seem like a good person to me." He smiled shyly and Hitomi felt her guts clench again, but for a very different reason.

"...Are you sure about this?" She asked, ignoring her blushing cheeks.

"Yeah!"

"Absolutely?" Hitomi asked again.

"O-Of cour-!" Suddenly Midoriya went stiff and his smile disappeared. It was a bit unnerving to see the shy, friendly guy turning so expressionless.

"...Well, here we are." she said while internally panicking.

She actually did it. Now she really messed up...

"Sit down," she ordered, sounding calmer than she truly was, and Midoriya returned to his chair. "I'm going to leave you like this for 15-20 minutes and then I'll free you up... It would be nice to test the 45 minute limit you told me before, but I have to go home on my bike and I don't wanna tire myself without necessity." She took the empty teapot and walked to the kitchen "I'll make more tea… I'm sure it's going to taste awful, but I don't want to risk you getting burned if I order you to do it."

Despite her calm demeanor, her thoughts were a mess. A part of her was scared of what Midoriya's reaction was going to be. Fearing that the moment she deactivates Brainwashing the guy would run away from her screaming in total horror.

After all, that was how normal people reacted to her Quirk… But Midoriya wasn't exactly a normal guy...

So the other part of her was sure that in the end, Midoriya would only gush about how amazing her Quirk was and everything would be fine.

Hitomi let out a snort at the thought and just tried to think positively for probably the first time in her life.

* * *

It was around 15:30 when she finally got to her house.

"I'm home," she said while leaving her shoes in the entry, and she was distracted enough not to notice the light-haired woman slowly getting close to her.

"Welcome home, Tomi-chan!" The woman practically jumped at Hitomi and trapped her in a bear hug.

"Yeah, I love you too, Mom. Please stop." she said, her voice warm despite her stoicness.

"Mou, Tomi-chan is getting taller," said her mother, Shinsou Mihoko, while pouting at her.

She was only a pair of centimeters smaller than Hitomi and looked young enough to be confused as her older sister instead of her mother. After all, they both looked a lot alike, though Hitomi's seriousness was mostly inherited from her father.

"Nah, I'm pretty sure I stopped growing last year. Maybe it is Mom who is getting smaller" She smirked while Mihoko glared funnily at her for a moment, and then both laughed.

"Tomi-chan seems happy." Mihoko commented lightheartedly.

"I suppose I am," Hitomi said frankly, remembering her last words with Mido-. No. With Izuku.

"_Okay, my tea sucks and It's a total disgrace," she said, though she still drank it. It wasn't going to drink itself, after all. "I need to ask Mom to teach me to make it better when I get home." She shriveled at the awful taste, wondering how she fucked it up so much. "Ok. It's already 20 minutes, so I'll turn Brainwashing off… Please don't freak out." She sighed and then thought about Brainwashing stopping to work. Immediately Izuku's eyes recovered their light and his expression turned confused. "Please don't freak out." She repeated, practically imploring him._

_Izuku didn't say anything at first, and Hitomi just expected the worst. Then he just took his pencil and started writing in his notebook again._

"_Brainwashing activation seems to shut down most brain processes, leaving the target incapable of acting by themselves. However, the target doesn't lose his ability to think, though while controlled it becomes hard to understand what is happening around them and it gets almost impossible to detect correctly the passage of time, having their temporal perception messed up so minutes seemed like seconds. It should be noted, once Brainwashing is turned off, the person remembers everything they did while controlled, though slightly blurrily." Muttered Izuku almost incomprehensibly. "And t-that's it," he said, and looked up at Hitomi, who watched him amused._

"_I told you not to freak out."_

"_S-Sorry, couldn't resist it." He smiled, his cheeks a bit red._

"_You weren't lying. You really don't fear my Quirk." She stated matter of fact._

"_O-Of course I don't!" She smirked. Shyness or not, the guy had guts._

"_Thanks, Midoriya. And sorry for the lame tea."_

"_It's not that bad." He tasred a bit of the cup she had served him. Apparently the guy was nice enough to trick himself into believing that her tea didn't suck, or his taste buds were just defective._

"_If you say so. It's kinda late, so see you later." She bowed slightly and turned to the exit. If her father got home before her, she would be nagged to death._

"_W-Wait, a moment!" He yelled calling her attention and then moved toward his desk and took a small object from it. "What I said about helping with Brainwashing extends to whenever you need it, Shinsou-san. The c-club is open all school days after class until 16:00, so don't hesitate in visiting. And t-thanks for your patronage!" He bowed greatly and extended the small object to her, that she took with curiosity._

_It was a card with the club info, schedule, and even a cell phone number and email to contact him._

"_Hmm. That's a very professional way of giving a girl your phone number, Midoriya," she said, and the guy turned into a stuttering mess._

She smiled returning to the present. And then noticed the presence of her mother standing beside her and giggling while staring at her.

"What?" She asked, turning serious.

"I recognize that expression." Mihoko giggled knowingly.

"I don't understand what you are talking about." What about it? Was she making a weird face or something?

"I'm going to tell Jime-kun that Tomi-chan has a boyfriend!" She smiled.

"What?" She felt her blood run cold. "NO!" She moved towards her mom, but the woman dodged her at the last moment and started running.

"Tomi-chan has a boyfriend! " Mihoko hummed while running from her daughter.

"S-Stop it!" This was going to be a problem.

* * *

**Well, that was it for now.**

**Hitomi's parents are based on keiidakamya****'s**** OCs, Shinsou Hajime and Shinsou Mihoko, so you can look at his twitter to know how they look; and I said based because I only took their names and appearance, while I changed their backgrounds and Quirks.**

**Let your reviews, favorite and follow!**

* * *

_**Hitomi: I can't even say how big they are... What the hell do rich girls eat to have boobs that big?**_

_**Izuku: C-Can't we talk about something else?**_

_**Hitomi: Midoriya, It's talking about Yaomomo or about Todoroki. So the answer is NO.**_

_**Next Chapter: Yaomomo**__** \- ´Defeats, internships and matrioskas.**_

_**Izuku: Y-Yaomomo? Don't you barely know her?**_

_**Hitomi: Are you jealous… Izuku?**_


	5. Omake 2

_**Just a little Omake before the actual next chapter (Ill probably post it next week).**_

* * *

Izuku lied on his bed while pondering about that afternoon events.

"I'm such an idiot!" He covered his face with his hands in frustration.

It didn't make sense.

Yeah, he was an introverted guy and he would never be a Casanova or something like that, but he surely wasn't so awkward around girls as he used to be a year ago.

After overcoming the disaster that was the slime incident, he had slowly grown confident enough around the fairer sex to carry normal conversations without stuttering or doubting himself at every word.

But then the moment he recognized Hitomi his mind just shut down. And it was like it if he had forgotten how to even talk.

Thanks god he recomposed himself in time before the girl had misunderstood his behavior.

In any case, despite the fact he was a flustered mess almost all the time, it had been a nice and productive meeting.

Hitomi had shown being a head-strong and smart individual, kind and oddly charismatic despite her blunt attitude and stoicism.

"She is also kind of attractive." He murmured.

And 'kind of' was just a euphemism he was using to avoid accepting he was pretty much smitten by her.

"I-I don't have the time to worry about this." He got up from the bed and took the folder on his desk.

He still needed to finish the report about the Sports Festival. And with luck, he would get enough of the work done today to prepare some extra stuff for Hitomi.

She had the will and Quirk to be a great hero... But apparently; she was also so alone as he was before. With no one to support her.

But that didn't matter anymore. Now he would do everything in his power to help her become the hero she could be.

"Plus Ultra."

* * *

_**Take care all of you!**_


	6. Yao-momo

**To May 3rd, 2020 =**

**-Reviews****: 24**

**-Followers****: 115**

**-Favorites****: 75**

**-Reads****: 4632**

**It's great! We finally surpassed the 100 followers. And have more than the double of reads compared with the previous chapter!**

**Thanks to dperson3569, Nain Tarlow, StandUpKeepMovingForward, SnarkySensei, Topone, Necrogod, dperson3569, EndlessChains, LegendaryMob and Yomunot for letting reviews! **

**And thanks to EndlessChains for beta-reading.**

* * *

**Chapter 4: Yao-momo**

* * *

**Tuesday, May 12th**

Hitomi stood in front of the club door, immobile. Unlike the previous day, the noise seemed to indicate that Izuku was already inside.

It was silly, but she felt nervous about knocking.

What if Izuku changed his opinion about helping her? It seemed improbable, but still... Who knows, maybe he was busy with something and didn't have time to deal with her?

"Hmm, sorry, is this the _Quirk Research Club?_" Hitomi heard a feminine voice behind her and turned around to find a really beautiful and curvaceous girl the same height as her, with jet-black hair in a ponytail. Hitomi recognized her immediately.

"Aren't you one of the 1-A girls who did the cheering act at the Sports Festival?" Hitomi asked, knowing fully well that it was her. She was just interested in gauging the girl's reaction.

"Y-Yes." The girl blushed a bit but remained collected. "Let me introduce myself, my name is Yaoyorozu Momo, at your service." Yaoyorozu extended her hand towards Hitomi in a polite gesture and she grasped it, don't seeing any reason not to do it.

She had heard about the Yaoyorozu family before -who didn't?- and knew they were obscenely rich, so she expected the girl to have the typical arrogant behavior of rich people. Instead of that, she seemed friendly.

"Name's Shinsou Hitomi." She said cooly.

"I know. Shinsou-san visited our classroom some days ago to declare war on us." Hitomi flinched. Initially, she didn't have the intention of doing that. It was only the blonde chihuahua's barks that angered her enough to make her say all that. "And you also defeated Aoyama-san at the Sports Festival's last round." Yaoyorozu didn't seem offended or anything, so apparently she didn't take her competitiveness in a bad way.

"Yeah, that's me: Popsicle girl." She said, pointing at herself.

"Popsicle?" Yaoyorozu tilted her head, not getting her lame intent of a joke.

"...Just forget that I talked." Hitomi knocked at the door and moved to the side under the curious glance of the other girl.

Before the girl could question her, Hitomi lifted her index finger and put it in front of her mouth. Yaoyorozu looked a bit confused but nodded after a moment.

"Give me a moment." They heard Izuku's voice, and then the door opened after a couple of seconds, blocking Hitomi from view.

This was the perfect opportunity for her to make sure of something she had been suspecting since the previous day, and for that, she needed Izuku to be unaware of her presence.

"Midoriya-san?" Asked Yaoyorozu, and the boy bowed.

"Yes. It's nice to finally meet you in person, Yaoyorozu-san!" The boy greeted her with great energy. "Come in, come in!"

"I-Is it fine? Aren't you busy?" Yaoyorozu threw a subtle glance at her direction.

"Hmm, well." He turned thoughtful. "I was kind of waiting for someone, but she has not messaged me or anything… And maybe she won't come at all." His voice was suddenly laced with a bit of sadness. Then he shook his head and smiled again. "Anyway, that doesn't mean I can't try to help you while I wait for my other guest to arrive."

"Thanks for your time. I'll be in your care." The girl followed him inside the room, while Hitomi gaped at the whole situation.

Where the hell went the nervous guy Hitomi had met yesterday? It was just like when he entered _'analysis mode'_… Izuku had stopped stuttering and carried himself more confidently while remaining a soft-spoken person.

However, when Izuku did that the previous day he had been simply monologuing about her Quirk. While now he was having a perfectly normal conversation with a girl who was objectively and undeniably hotter than her, and he was completely unaffected.

That didn't make sense. Considering how gorgeous Yaoyorozu was, Hitomi had expected him to be a complete mess. But if Izuku didn't have problems talking with a girl of Yaoyorozu's caliber, then why had she made him nervous?

She was sure Izuku didn't fear her. So there was only one explanation Hitomi could find for his behavior… And she wasn't sure if feeling troubled or flattered about it.

But at least for now, she was probably better leaving that can of worms closed.

In any case, she was getting tired of hiding.

"Hmm, were you talking about me, or was my imagination?" She poked her head in the room.

"S-S-Shinsou-san?!" The guy almost jumped at her sudden arrival. And there he was again, regular stuttering Izuku.

* * *

'_Hmm, this is annoying.'_ Hitomi thought, closing another browser tab.

Izuku had let her use the room's PC to search for martial arts classes while he talked with Yaoyorozu.

Unfortunately, around 60% of the websites she found looked like scams while the rest were just completely out of her budget.

And while she was doing that...

"...I feel inadequate." Said Yaoyorozu. "I was able to enter UA by recommendation, and yet, despite my initial good performance, I was unable to endure more than five seconds on the platform when put against Tokoyami-san... I just froze... I was so stupid!" She said, desperation in her words.

Hitomi wasn't sure what to think about the girl's visit. She expected her to want information about how to perfect her Quirk or something normal like that, but somehow everything escalated into what she could only describe as a therapy session.

...A therapy session with a psychologist that didn't have an idea about what to say to his client.

Being the good guy he was, Izuku tried with all his might to calm the girl's concerns. There were no doubts about it, but Yaoyorozu was too intent on her self-contempt to heed his words.

So Hitomi felt the need to intervene.

"Hey, Yao-..." She stopped herself, sure she would mispronounce the girl's name if she tried to say it. "Can I call you Yao-momo?"

"Of course! Some of my _friends_ call me like that, actually." The girl said brightly. Hitomi frowned a bit at the dreaded _**"F" **_word, but ignored it and continued.

"Nice, because I wanted to ask you... Are you aware of the two people with whom you are in this room?" She asked, ignoring Izuku's alarmed expression.

Right now, Yaoyorozu needed someone to be straightforward with her, or she would never get out of that self-deprecating pit she got herself into.

"...E-Eh, sorry... Did I say something that offended you?" The girl asked, seemingly struck.

"Not really." Hitomi shrugged. "I just found it kind of funny for you, the rich, attractive, smart girl with the amazing Quirk, to be the one of us to have self-confidence issues." She said plainly, making the other girl blush a bit. "So you lost stupidly? That sucks, but there's nothing you can do to change the past... You already beat yourself up enough for that, so now you should start focusing on what to do, so the next time you can kick Edgy Boy's butt..." Hitomi noticed how both Yaoyorozu and Izuku's attention was focused on her. "I'm saying this from experience." She added, and it seemed her words had worked because Yaoyorozu had lightened up considerably. Meanwhile, Izuku smiled at her proudly and she made her best attempt to keep on her poker-face despite the heat she was feeling in her cheeks.

"W-What Shinsou-san said is true. Your Quirk's proficiency is high already, Yaoyorozu-san. The only thing you need is more experience in combat. That's it!"

"...Yes. You are right." Yaoyorozu said with energy. "I need to stop pitying myself! The first thing I'll do when I get home is to ask my private instructors to add some more combat routines to my training!"

"...She has private instructors." Hitomi murmured. Damn rich people.

At least she was a pleasant person. And Hitomi couldn't negate the warm feeling of knowing she had helped someone... Did Izuku feel the same when he helped her? That would explain why he had decided to be part of such a club in the first place.

"I also need to take the maximum advantage of my internship with Uwabami!" And then the magic disappeared.

"What did you say?" Izuku asked with a worried expression.

"...You are joking, right?" Hitomi asked next, then snorted when the girl just stared at her bewildered. "Oh, no. You aren't... You are actually planning to do your internship with Uwabami."

"Sorry, but I don't understand what you two mean." Yaoyorozu looked at the both of them, perplexed and somewhat offended at being ignorant about the situation.

"Yaoyorozu-san." Izuku called her attention "I doubt that Uwabami will be a good choice for your internship."

"Why not?" Hitomi almost answered the girl's question, but ultimately decided to let Izuku deal with the situation. She couldn't avoid being too blunt with her words and she didn't want to make the other girl upset.

"Because Uwabami belongs to the group of pro-heroes that focus mainly on their side-professions, using their Hero careers as a way to promote themselves." To her surprise, Izuku had been almost as blunt as she would be in his place.

"…Isn't that a harsh way to put it?" Asked Yaoyorozu, obviously troubled.

"Um, maybe, but by saying that I'm not trying to take away her merits as a hero, the people she saved nor the villains she stopped..." He said gently. "It's just she is kind of infamous for the way she deals with internships."

"What do you mean with infamous..? The internships can't be that bad?" The rich girl asked uncertainly, to which Izuku frowned nervously.

"The internships with her consist of model-work and nothing else. That's the reason she only sends nominations to cute girls." Hitomi said. Even though she didn't care about Uwabami personally, she has read an article about her in one of her mom's magazines one day that she was extremely bored. So she was aware of the woman's reputation.

"What?!" Yaoyorozu was scandalized. "That can't be true! We are supposed to learn about the life of a pro-hero! Something like that would be just a waste of time! It has to be against the school rules!"

"Well, um, actually there are no written rules about how a pro-hero has to manage internships, only that the interns need to learn about the facets of being a pro-hero, and with Uwabami they learn about the show-business part, so it technically counts..." He shrugged.

"Ah... I see." She said, clearly disappointed.

"Hey. Be glad you dodged the bullet." Said Hitomi and palmed the girl's back, wanting to lift her mood.

"Yaoyorozu-san, if you don't mind, I can help you find a better-suited internship." He said... And he did it.

It only Izuku than 5 minutes to look at all the 108 nominations Yaoyorozu received and select the best ten. It was kind of funny actually, watching him discarding the bad ones while muttering at a machine gun-like speed.

"Thank you. Really, thanks for your help!" Curiously enough, Yaoyorozu's words were also meant for her and not only Izuku. "I don't know how to pay you back for this."

"You don't need to, it was nothing." He said, slightly embarrassed.

"Don't be modest." Her face lightened. "I know! I can make you a small gift! "

"T-That's not necessary! Really!"

"It would be rude not to reward such diligent work. Would it be enough with a Matryoshka doll? I'm really proud of them."

"Huh? Matryoshka? Mom wanted to have one of those, I think..." Hitomi commented, not noticing Izuku's mortified expression.

"Perfect then!" Said the black-haired girl... And unbuttoned her school jacket.

"...Eh? What are you doing?" Hitomi asked her.

"Please, wait just a moment. A small doll won't do, so I need more surface." Yaoyorozu said after taking off her jacket and then started to unbutton her shirt too.

"Midoriya, what's she doing?" She asked the boy, finally noticing how his face was red, and his eyes were fixed on his feet. Looking back, she found Yaoyorozu with her shirt open and her white bra in plain sight.

The rest of the event was like a car crash. She knew she should have looked away, but she couldn't.

And that's part of the story about how Shinsou Mihoko got her beloved 30-centimeter tall Matryoshka doll.

* * *

Hitomi was sitting silently at the sofa, staring at the small stain on the otherwise white ceiling while thinking about the meaning of life... And boobs.

"Midoriya." She said without looking at him.

They were the only people in the room, Yaoyorozu having left a while ago.

"Y-Yeah?"

"It may seem like a dumb question, but did that actually happen?"

"Y-Yeah, it did." She frowned and looked at him. He seemed busy doing something on his desk, but she could notice a blush still present on his cheeks.

"I see. The whole situation was so absurd and bizarre that it felt like being part of one of those hidden camera shows..." Meanwhile, the Russian doll was sitting on the table in front of her, a big smile on her cute painted face as if mocking her. Hitomi took the doll and turned it around. After a moment, she looked at herself. She was perfectly comfortable with her body, and that included her medium-sized bust. However, she couldn't deny that she was curious... "Hmm, I forgot to ask Yaoyorozu about what she ate to get them that big." She heard Izuku choke. "Damn rich people." Hitomi said, not truly meaning it, and stood up. "What are you doing, Midoriya?" She walked towards him and looked over his shoulders.

"I-I'm making a draft for a new hero uniform for Y-Yaoyorozu-san." He said, slightly embarrassed after noticing her closeness. "S-She didn't ask for it or anything, it's just practice for designing costumes... But w-who knows, maybe she'll like it more than the o-original."

"I see." The drawing in question was a red bodysuit that covered everything but her face, hands, and feet. It included some white lines around it and two white belts. "Isn't supposed to show a lot of skin for Yao-perv to use her Quirk?"

"Y-You shouldn't call her like that, it's m-mean." Izuku scolded her, though he sounded amused. "And no, I'm going to add various zippers" He pointed at the white lines ", so she only needs to open them to use her Q-Quirk normally." She nodded, imagining the girl with the costume… Yeah, it would suit her.

"Talking about that, how's her current hero uniform?"

"Eh... Do y-you really want to see it?" He asked, unsure.

"Why not?" She shrugged.

Then the boy moved the book's pages and showed her a drawing.

"Okay… That girl is an absolute exhibitionist." Hitomi tried to imagine herself in THAT, and it was atrocious. "And I'm a bit worried for her..."

"I don't think s-she notices the problem... But oblivious or not, I doubt Y-Yaoyorozu-san designed it to be exactly like this… And even if she did, the people from the Support Department could have intervened and made some modifications to the design... P-Practicality is one thing and THIS another completely different..."

"Damn Support Department. They pulled a _Midnight_ at poor Yao-momo."

"Y-Yeah." He nodded.

After that, they took a while drawing other alternatives for Yaoyorozu's costume. Hitomi helped as much as she could, despite her artistic deficiencies.

The rich girl was nice to her, so the least Hitomi could do was to help her a bit.

That's the story about how the _**Unofficial Protect Yao-momo Group**_ was created.

* * *

**As a guy I can only like Momo hero uniform. **

**But i'm pretty sure you could think on better alternatives that remain both practical and modest. Especially considering we are talking about a teennager.**

**However Im seriously wondering who designed that suit? Yaoyorozu or the Support Department? What do you think? The Support Department people have an historial of being perverts if we consider how they adapted Uraraka suit.**

* * *

_**Izuku: Do y-you have some way to train, S-Shinsou-san?**_

_**Hitomi: Well. I don't know if it counts, but I'm used to going from home to school and vice-versa on my bike. **_

_**Izuku: I s-see! That surely is a g-good way to keep in form. **_

_**Next chapter: Plus Ultra**__** \- A song of defeat and rebirth.**_

_**Hitomi: Yeah... Want to see?**_


	7. Plus Ultra

**To May 27th, 2020 =**

**-Reviews: 29**

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**Thanks to all people that review for your support!**

**Hope youll like this chapter!**

* * *

**Chapter 5 - Plus Ultra.**

* * *

**_Friday, May 8th_**

_Hitomi walked towards the platform, her eyes fixed on the red-and-white-haired boy standing on it._

_"Hmm, I'm not sure if I like this or not…" She said once on the platform. "Being sincere, I didn't expect nor wanted to fight against you so soon." She shrugged. "I mean, jumping from sparkling-boy straight to Endeavor V2.0 seems extremely unlucky, don't you think?" She noticed easily how Todoroki's indifferent mask slipped. His eyes flashing with annoyance._

_"__**AND HERE WE ARE AGAIN, LISTENERS!**__" Exclaimed Present Mic. "__**ON ONE SIDE WE HAVE THE FAVORITE OF THE FESTIVAL, ICE & FIRE, TODOROKI SHOUTO FROM 1-A CLASS!" **__Todoroki didn't react to the teacher's words nor the people's applauses only kept staring at her.__** "AND ON THE OTHER SIDE, THE WILD CARD THAT UNEXPECTEDLY MADE IT INTO THE FINAL EVENT, SHINSOU HITOMI FROM THE GENERAL DEPARTMENT!**__" She smirked and waved to the public, receiving more claps than she ever expected. "__**BOTH OF THEM WON THEIR PREVIOUS FIGHTS IN LESS THAN FIVE SECONDS! SO, IS IT GOING TO HAPPEN AGAIN?!**__"_

_"Not going to say anything? Or do you consider yourself too high and mighty to exchange words with a nobody commoner like me...?" She asked, but the boy remained silent. "Not that I expected any better from the son of such a miserable attempt of a human being. The apple doesn't fall too far from the tree, after all." Todoroki's frown worsen._

_"__**WHO IS GOING TO WIN?!"**_

_"...All the time, blessed people like you receive everything they want and need on a silver platter without having to do anything to deserve it. And still, all of you are praised as if you were descended gods or something."_

_**"TODOROKI WITH HIS MASSIVE ICE ATTACKS OR SHINSOU WITH HER OBSCURE BUT POWERFULL QUIRK?!"**_

_"...So I suppose this situation is fine too." She shrugged and then put her hands in her pockets._

_**"LET'S SEE IT!**__"_

_"I'm sure I'll have an insured ticket to the Hero Course when I crush Endeavor's little prodigal-..."_

_"__**START!**__"_

_"-son." In less than a blink, there was a huge burst of ice advancing towards her. _

_It took her a moment to process the situation and when she finally tried to move away, it was already too late. Todoroki's ice attack struck her and encased her full body, only letting her head and right hand unfrozen._

_"W-What?!"_

_"__**WOW, THAT WAS FAST! HOW MUCH WAS IT...?! ONE SECOND? TWO SECONDS AT MOST?!**__" She ignored the man's words and desperately tried to free herself, but her little mobility made it impossible._

_After some agonizing seconds, Midnight's whip resounded on the stadium._

_"Because his opponent can't move anymore, the victory is for Todoroki Shouto from the Hero Course!" Yelled the woman to the stadium's public. And Hitomi felt like a puppet after its strings are cut._

_It couldn't be. She didn't make it this far to lose this way! Not when the people out there were finally noticing her!_

_It was then that her opponent got closer._

_"...Sorry." Said Todoroki, his voice as cold as his ice. His menacing mismatched eyes saw through her as if she was nothing._

_"D-Don't say stuff like t-that when you don't m-mean it…!" She grunted, trembling both for the cold and the anger she felt._

_Then the guy turned around and walked away._

_"H-Hey! Where are y-you going!? G-Get back! L-Let me o-out of here, you bastard!" She yelled, but he continued walking until she couldn't see him anymore._

_"__**AND THERE HE GOES!**__**WHAT A RUDE KID...! SOMEONE, PLEASE HELP THAT GIRL!**__"_

_"...G-Gentlemanship d-died..." She said breathy, dying to get home and drink a bit of hot cocoa. _

* * *

**Tuesday, May 12th**

Izuku stopped the video recording just on the part when a helper started using a hairdryer on her frozen body.

"Well. That gets more embarrassing with every time I see it." She commented, sitting beside the Quirkless boy.

"I-It wasn't that bad..." She stared at him and lifted an eyebrow.

"You don't need to lie, Midoriya. First, you suck at it." The guy blushed and looked away. "Second, it doesn't offend me you tell the truth" She crossed her arms. "I was completely unprepared for that fight and it was only my fault. I didn't have any actual battle experience or physical training at all, and I still don't... So when Todoroki attacked me, I couldn't react in time, just like Yaomomo. But worst... At least she tried to defend herself. I couldn't even do that, just made a complete fool of myself on TV." She sighed and breathed deeply. "...But that's already water under the bridge. I need to prepare so I can make a better impression next year..." She noticed the subtle frown on Izuku's face.

According to UA rules, transferring to the Hero Course was only possible if a teacher vouched for the student and most of the Faculty agreed with it. Ultimately, in the case of indecision, the Headmaster would have the last word.

Sadly, Hitomi doubted she would be considered this year after fuck it up so badly.

"It has been only four days since the f-festival. You could still be transferred." He said in that serious voice he used the day before when she was being especially hard-headed.

"Maybe..." She shrugged. "Believe me, I'm not trying to be negative here. Only realistic" He frowned again. "I didn't make it to the Hero Course this year. What a tragedy." She dramatically grabbed her face, though her voice and expression remained the same. "Or it would be if I didn't have the next year to try it again..." She shrugged. " Actually, even if I fail again then -which would definitely suck, I'm not going to lie-, I can still do like some adults, and get a hero license through alternative programs after I graduate. Better later than never, I guess." Izuku looked at her wide-eyed. "So, just know that I'm not giving up. EVER." She just didn't mention her alternative plan of being a vigilante if everything else didn't work. That could very well give the poor boy a stroke.

"...T-That's the most negative-positive t-thing I have ever heard."

"...Thanks. I try."

"It wasn't r-really a compliment."

"In any case, I'm already looking for a place where I can learn how to fight properly."

Izuku nodded and suddenly turned contemplative. Slight nervousness in his eyes.

"Is something the matter?"

"No. I-It's nothing... Eh. Kinda." She looked at him suspiciously, enjoying his abashed expression. "Um, for what I s-saw before, you weren't having good luck with your search, right?" She shook her head.

"It's a work in process." In other words, it had been a disaster and a complete waste of time.

"W-Well... I-I actually have a good place that I could r-recommend you."

"...Do you?" She asked curiously.

"Yeah, it's a K-Karate dojo at the Chiba prefecture."

"Hmm, doesn't ring any bells." She commented.

"T-That would make sense. You see, the owner is a traditional guy, technologically speaking. Too obstinate to post his place on the internet... But believe me, despite that, it's an amazing place!" He said with a conviction that surprised her.

"You sound pretty sure about it."

"I d-do. They helped me a lot." He said with an embarrassed smile.

"Eh...?" She stared at Izuku confused. "Wait. You do Karate?"

"Yeah. It h-has been a year already since I joined." He commented and seemed to lose himself in nostalgia. Meanwhile, she limited to observe him in silence.

...It was hard to believe.

Shy, smart, nerdy Izuku Midoriya... practicing Karate...?

She had to stop herself from asking Izuku if he was being serious, not wanting to upset him with her ridiculous skepticism.

Even though it has been only one day since she met Izuku; she had no reason to doubt him after all he had done for her. And in any case, why would he lie about something like that?

_To try to impress me, because he apparently likes me, for some weird reason_. She stomped the thought. She didn't have the time to deal with it. Maybe when she went home... Or at the weekend... Or never...

Anyway, she just felt so incredulous about the whole situation because Izuku's image wasn't compatible at all with the way she pictured people that practiced martial arts... But at the same time, it felt outrageously wrong to think of him as someone 'weak'.

He was anything but that.

"Hey, Midoriya." She said, making him stop remembering the past.

"Yeah?"

"Could you give me your coat for a moment?" She asked him, trying to sound casual.

"Eh... My u-uniform coat?" She nodded. "W-Why?" He seemed wary of her intentions.

"There's something weird about it. Can't find the words to describe it." A huge lie, as big as his coat and shoes.

"F-Fine." He took it off and then handed it to Hitomi.

She received it, but her eyes didn't leave the boy.

His white undershirt was certainly fitter on him than his other garment and the short-sleeves did an outstanding job showing his arm's muscles.

_Ok. Doubt resolved. He is actually fit... Really fit. I wouldn't be surprised if he is completely ripped under his shirt. _

Even though she usually didn't act as girlie as her female classmates, she was still just a normal teenage girl. And had to recognize that muscles on someone so unassuming but somehow _cute_ as Izuku, make for a really attractive contrast.

So she did her best job at remaining impassible, burned the image on her retina, and then returned the coat to its owner.

"Just as I thought." She announced. "Your coat is just too big for you."

"Y-Yeah." He chuckled lightly. "Mom said that when I was older I would surely grow huge like D-Dad, so it wouldn't be a problem... But I don't really think I got m-much of his genes." She tried to imagine a taller Izuku but just couldn't.

Maybe it was the fact she always was the tall person between her peers, but still... It kinda unnerved her to think about Izuku being the taller one.

Small Izuku was defintely better.

"Meh. Height is overrated, Midoriya. When you are tall, you always stand out like a sore thumb, even when you try to be sneaky... Believe me, you are better keeping on the nerdy scarecrow impression." She said, half-joking.

Taking into account his deceiving appearance, she could easily imagine a bully trying to mess with him and getting their ass handed. That certainly would be an interesting spectacle to watch.

"Heh, I'll do w-what I can." He smiled at her, and she smirked back.

The mood was pleasant. Shockingly pleasant...

Actually. Wait... Did they just flirt with each other? That didn't count as flirting, did it?

"Okay, then I guess I can check out the physical training off my list?"

"Yeah! I only n-need to contact Kendo-san about it. We could probably visit the dojo this w-weekend."

"Kendo?" She asked, the name familiar. "...The girl with the gigantic hands?"

"Oh. I forgot y-you probably know her for the Sports Festival. H-Her father is the owner, actually."

"I see." Things were getting just better and better. If she could learn to fight as Big-Hands and improved her Quirk... She would be almost unbeatable... And talking about that... "Hey."

"Yeah?"

"Is the offer to use you as a guinea pig still up?" She asked, almost smacking herself for saying it like that.

"Ah. O-Of course, we can start right now, if you want." Funnily enough, Izuku didn't seem bothered by her lack of tact.

_Probably because he likes me... Dammit._

* * *

"...Okay, better let's stop." She turned off her Quirk, leaving Izuku free of her control.

He didn't waste a second to take his phone from the table and check out the rime.

"W-Wow." He watched it with amazement. "48 minutes!"

Unlike the previous day, this time by Izuku's recommendation she made sure of testing the limits of her Quirk. So Hitomi made him follow some instructions. Simple things like writing, moving light objects from one place to another, etc, for the longest time she could.

"Yeah. But I definitely shouldn't have done that." She felt drained as if she was about to fall unconscious at any moment.

"Are you okay?!" Izuku hurried to Hitomi and put his hands on her shoulders, trying to stabilize her.

"...I'm fine, just tired." She said with a light blush and then Izuku sat beside her. "Really tired. But I only need to rest for a moment." He nodded but kept a worried expression. Now it was him who was staring at her, fearing that something bad would occur if he let her out of his view. It was kind of uncomfortable. "Geez, I'm not going to spontaneously combust. Just stop looking at me like that, it's embarrassing." He murmured a _'sorry'_ and looked away... And that made her feel bad. "...Thank you for worrying, though." She nudged him gently.

Half an hour passed with both of them in comfortable silence. Izuku was taking some notes, while she rested her eyes, ignoring the still worried glances that Izuku directed at her.

"...Okay, this is not working." She murmured.

"Eh?" Izuku looked at her. "It's something wrong?"

"I just feel as tired as before... I seriously need to go home." She yawned lazily.

She needed to sleep. It was as simple as that. One or two hours of sleeping and she would be fine as new.

She could just do it right there... But she felt weird at having Izuku around while she slept…

She knew he wouldn't do anything funny, but still... It was kind of embarrassing to show him so much trust and weakness considering she barely knew him.

However, that arose another problem.

"I can't go by myself in this state. I would end up having an accident." She murmured, then looked at the Matryoshka doll in the middle of the table. "Having to carry that thing around just makes it worse."

"Can I do something to help?" He said eagerly, as gentlemanly as always.

"...There's no need to." Having an idea, she took out her phone and searched for her dad's contact. She was probably going to regret this later...

_**'Can you pick me up at UA?'**_ Hitomi sent him the text message.

"Now I only need to wait for-. Huh?" Her phone chimed suddenly.

**'Old Man: 30 minutes.' **It was all his message said. She snorted, she shouldn't be surprised.

"Okay, everything is solved. My Dad is picking me up today." She stood up, her head dizzy for a moment. "Thanks for everything today, Midoriya. I think I should be going." She tried to pick up the doll from the table but couldn't move it an inch, her arms feeling soft as spaghetti.

She wasn't sure if it was the exhaustion or if she was just plain weak.

"Hey." She said looking back at Izuku somewhat flustered. "Thinking it better, I would appreciate a hand."

* * *

It didn't take them too much to exit the campus.

"He is not here yet." Hitomi looked around but couldn't find her father's car around. She sat on a bench and sighed.

"H-He should be close." Izuku sat beside her, Hitomi schoolbag clinging from his arm, and left her bike by his side. The russian doll resting in its basket.

Izuku had carried all her stuff without complaining and had even helped her along the way to stop her from falling asleep while walking and tripping on the stairs like an idiot.

She almost thought of telling him he didn't need to wait with her. But knowing him, he would do it anyway.

"You are too nice, Midoriya." She yawned again. "...Not that I dislike it." She added after noticing that Izuku flinched at her words.

"I just d-do what I can." He said, looking away in embarrassment.

"That's the point, Midoriya. Not everyone out there does what they can. Though it may sound cynical, the reality is that most people only see for themselves, including heroes. Some of them only care for fame or money and nothing else..." She closed her eyes and felt her body relaxing. "So anyone that goes out of their way to help others, as you do, should be worthy of admiration... So for that, thank you, Izuku." She said, not knowing the effect her words were having on Izuku's heart at the moment.

And then she fell asleep.

* * *

Izuku looked at the girl by his side, not knowing what to do.

"Shinsou-san?" He didn't receive any answer. Hitomi barely stirred.

This was bad... Should he wake her up or not?

She was sleeping at a bench, which was uncomfortable, so the logical option would be to wake her up... But Hitomi was so drained before, while now she looked really peaceful. Her relaxed expression the closer to a regular smile he had seen on her ever.

So he debated with himself about what would be the right thing to do.

_'That she looks adorable while asleep is not enough of an argument!'_

Then to his surprise, a police patrol parked some meters from them. The driver's door opened, and a man exited the vehicle.

The man was taller than Hitomi, with disheveled purple hair and a scruffy appearance that reminded Izuku of Eraserhead. Except this man didn't exudate annoyance and hostility as the hobo-looking teacher did...

Even hair color aside, the similarities between Hitomi and the man were obvious. The fact he seemed between 30-40 years old marked him immediately as Hitomi's father.

While Izuku analyzed him, the man looked at their direction, his eyes shifting between them, while his face was expressionless.

Of course. The stoicness ran in the family... But it wasn't helping Izuku to know if he was in trouble or not...

Izuku tensed while the man approached until stopping in front of Hitomi. The man looked at her for a moment before breaking the silence.

"Hitomi. Wake up." He said in a deep voice ignoring Izuku. And when the girl didn't move, he poked her in the cheek a pair of times. She didn't react. "...Overusing your Quirk?" Izuku flinched, and then the man finally turned at him. "...Who are you?"

"I'M M-MIDORIYA IZUKU, SIR!" Izuku stood up and bowed. "I'm a General Department student like Shinsou-san!"

"...Name is Shinsou Hajime." Hajime bowed almost imperceptibly. He had not only a very paused way of talking, but the man also seemed to carry himself with a languidness in everything he did. "...I'm Hitomi's younger brother."

_'...Younger brother?' _Izuku looked with confusion at the obviously older male.

"That was a joke... I'm his father."

_'A j-joke?'_

Before Izuku could say anything, Hajime picked up Hitomi and throw her on his shoulders like a bag of potatoes. Then turned around and walked calmly back to his car.

Izuku was paralyzed. His face red and his mind a complete mess.

Just from a moment there... Hitomi'_s_ skirt rose a bit too much... He probably wasn't going to get the image out of his mind for a long while.

Fortunately, he realized he was forgetting something.

"W-W-Wait!" Izuku ran towards Hajime puling the bike, while the man placed Hitomi on the passenger seat and set her safety belt. "T-This is yours!" Izuku extended the doll to the man, but Hajime only stared at him in silence. "...I also have S-Shinsou-san's school bag and bike with me." Added Izuku.

"...Is the doll for my dear wife?" Izuku nodded shily. "...I see. Enter." Hajime opened the back door for him.

Izuku blinked in surprise, but followed Hajime orders, and took the seat behind Hitomi_'s_, setting the doll and the schoolbag beside him, while the man moved the bike to the back part of the car and then returned to his seat.

"Put the safety belt." Ordered Hajime while turning the engine on. "...The doll too."

Izuku looked at the man strangely, but when the silence extended awkwardly, he put the other safety belt around the doll.

"...I can't believe you did it."

Izukus' eye twitched... The man was clearly laughing at his expenses. At least deep inside.

"...Where do you live, kid?" Asked Hajime.

"Close. Only some stations from here, actually." And then he told him the full address.

The man drove in silence for a while, and Izuku found Hajime's inexpressive eyes staring at him through the rearview mirror.

The idea of doing conversation passed through Izuku_'s_ mind, but he truly didn't know what to say or if he was even allowed to say something, considering how taciturn and weird the man was.

The fact the man was his crush's father and a police officer wasn't helping him at all to dissipate his nervousness.

"...So Hitomi used her Quirk on you?" In the end, it was Hajime who started the conversation. And of course, it had to be the topic that Izuku was more worried to talk about.

Were Hitomi's parents okay about her daughter using her Quirk on other people -out of events like the Sports Festival-, even if she had the permission of her targets...?

He didn't want to get the girl in trouble because of it.

He thought of lying or trying to avoid the question by changing the topic, but when he tried, the only thing he said was the truth.

"...Y-Yeah." He gulped at the unblinking gaze of the adult.

"...She asked you before doing it?"

"Eh-? OF COURSE, SHE DID IT! It was me who convinced her that it was fine. She would NEVER abuse her power!" He said alarmed, not wanting the adult to misunderstand everything.

"...I know. I was only testing you." The adult said shamelessly.

"Eh?"

"...Hitomi told me yesterday about you and the training she was going to do with you. I only wanted to know if you would try to lie to me after I confronted you about it... And you passed the test."

Izuku looked at him unbelievingly... This man was only messing with him.

"...I absolutely support what you are doing for her... I suppose you are her friend?" Asked Hajime.

Izuku felt a bit uncomfortable at the question but still answered.

"N-No." Hajime lifted an eyebrow.

"...You don't want to be her friend?"

"I-IS NOT THAT!" He clarified. "Of course I want to be her friend... But I just can't call myself that at the moment... We only met yesterday. So it would be presumptuous on my part to use that word. After all, we really don't know each other that well... And I'm not sure if she wants to-..." He stopped himself before he ended that sentence... Why was he even saying that?

The man didn't need to know about his lingering insecurities.

"...You don't have any ill intentions, do you?"

"I d-don't! I only wish to help her!"

"...So, you like Hitomi?" Izuku gulped.

Was the man trying to trick him again? Because there was no correct answer to a question like that.

If Izuku was sincere, he would have to deal with a protective Hajime seeing him as a menace going afterHitomi.

And if Izuku lied, he would have to deal with an angry Hajime believing he didn't consider Hitomi attractive enough to like her.

Both options sucked... There had to be a way to dodge the question.

Maybe repeating that he wanted to be her friend should be fine enough.

"...Y-Yes. I like he-." He covered his mouth, but the words had already escaped. _'WHY DID I SAID THAT...?! Unless...?'_

There was a pattern to it... Yeah, the situation was awkward and he was nervous. But he always thought deeply about everything he said -most of the time, at least. However, now he was just saying all his thoughts aloud like a huge doofus. One could even say that completely against his will.

The only possible explanation was that the man was using his Quirk on him.

So Izuku looked at Hajime tensely, waiting for his reaction. The picture of being throw out of the car while it moved awfully clear in his mind...

But it didn't happen.

"...Good to know." That was the only thing the man said, his voice completely unaffected. _'JUST WHAT THE-?!'_ "...You are wrong, though."

"What... What do you mean?" He asked, not sure of what was happening anymore.

"...You are helping Hitomi. Leaving her to use her Quirk on you. You don't ask for anything in exchange. You don't want to hurt her. And you like her... In conclusion, you are her friend." Izuku blinked in surprise. He didn't expect the man to say something like that. "...You don't need to know everything about a person to be their friend, you only need to be there for each other... Hitomi is aware of that. So don't let it get to you if she gets especially obtuse about it. She also needs and wants a friend, even if she denies it."

Izuku was left with no words. Feeling like what Hajime just said was probably something too private for him to know.

But at the same time, it was obvious.

Hitomi was a headstrong person, but she had to have her own insecurities too, just like everybody else... But unlike himself, she didn't have anyone her age she trusted enough to talk about it.

She needed a friend. And he would be it.

"...Hey, is this the place?" Izuku looked at the window once the car stopped moving and noticed his house immediately.

"Yes." Izuku exited the car still thoughtful and then turned towards Hajime. "Thanks, sir."

"...It was no problem. Take care..." Hajime seemed about to start driving again. But then stopped and looked at Izuku again. "I almost forgot... Kid, you are in my good book, at least for now. So I need to warn you. If you intend to pursue a romantic relationship with my daughter, you still need to receive the approval of my dear beautiful wife to do it... So please visit us one of these days... See ya."

Izuku saw the car moving away, the red lights at the top blinking, and the obnoxious siren accompanying the car until it disappeared at the distance.

"I-Izuku!? Was that the p-police?! Did something bad h-happened?!" He heard the worried voice of her mother behind him.

Once again, his thoughts were a mess.

"I'm not sure."

* * *

**Okay, and now we have both of Hitomi's parents in the picture!**

**I initially had planned for Hajime to be the typical over-protective father... But then I noticed that was a bit overdone and preferred to take this path, with him being a supportive but really weird parent. **

**The guy is like two or three times harder to read than his daughter, which along with his Quirk makes him a really good detective -Maybe I should make him be pals with Naomasa?-. The indisputable fact being that he is a lot clever and sharp than you would thing by his behavior.**

**In any case, I hope you have liked it. Let your reviews, follow, and favorite. And if you want to support me, you can donate to my Ko-fi from the link on my profile.**

* * *

_**Hitomi: Midoriya, who would you say is the person you most hate in the world?**_

_**Izuku: T-That's a tough question, Shinsou-san. Hate is a truly s-strong word, after all...**_

_**Hitomi: Right. Forgot you are a sweet cinnamon roll who can't possibly hate anybody.**_

_**Izuku: Yeah... Though I can name at l-least one person I severely d-dislike... **_

_**Hitomi: Yeah, me too.**_

_**Next chapter: A Boy of Ice and Fire. **__**\- Or how Todoroki was roasted.**_

_**Hitomi: And... Can you name a person you "severely" like?**_

_**Izuku: N-No comments!**_


	8. A Boy of Ice and Fire

**To June 13th, 2020 =**

**-Reviews: 31**

**-Followers: 147**

**-Favorites: 108**

**-Reads: 8598**

**Thanks to all of you for your support! **

* * *

**Okay, Shoto enters the scene!**

**This chapter and the next will be a bit tense, and I will explore the background of this version of Izuku.**

* * *

**Chapter 6 - A Boy of Ice and Fire**

* * *

**Wednesday, May 13th**

Hitomi moved through the hallways with a fast step. The frown on her face making the people on her way to step aside in fear of falling victims of her wrath.

However, she was more embarrassed than angry.

* * *

_"...Midoriya is a pleasant kid. When are you going to invite him home?" _

_"Tsk." She tried to ignore the warmth in her cheeks. "Stop avoiding my questions, dad! What did you two talk?"_

_"...What makes you assume we even talked about something?" He opened the newspaper and started reading, like if giving the conversation as finished._

_"Because I recognize that all-knowing expression of yours."_

_"...I'm not making any weird face like that." He truly wasn't, but the shine in his eyes expressed that he had done something. _

_The man lived off obtaining secrets and info from other people. But it had reached a point that it was more a hobby than just his job._

_...He and his meddlesome Quirk._

_"You used 'Talkative' on him, don't you?" She hissed._

_"..And you did the same with 'Brainwashing'." That made her flinch. It was an affirmation, not a question._

_"Mom and you gave me permission."_

_"...Yes. And that doesn't stop me from wanting to know with what kind of boy you are getting involved." She avoided his gaze. She just hated how he made that sound. "...Luckily, he resulted to be a fine young man." She sighed, trying not to scream in frustration. She just couldn't ever win against the old man. _

_"At least you didn't ask him anything too embarrassing, did you?" She asked, hopeful._

_The man turned around to her and smiled. He said nothing else._

* * *

"Dammit." Now she had to apologize for whatever nonsense her father had done and hope that Izuku wasn't regretting about helping her. Such a thing was improbable, but she didn't want their cooperation to get awkward because of her father's words.

Once in front of the club'_s_ door, she took a deep breath and pushed it open.

Immediately her dark purple eyes locked with a heterochromatic pair of grey and turquoise that she had hoped never meet again.

"...What are you doing here, Todoroki?" She asked in a glacial tone. Her sudden anger overcoming her previous nervousness.

"I came here looking for some advice." Answered Todoroki, his expression frustratingly calm, ignoring the way she was glaring at him.

"S-Shinsou-san!" She noticed Izuku out of the corner of her eyes, but her attention kept on the other boy who didn't seem willing to look away either.

"In other words, you are looking for help...?" He didn't answer. "I didn't expect you to come here to mingle with us, commoners. What could a privileged guy like you need? Or did you just intended to brag about your perfect Quirk to us?" The overwhelming hostility and jealousy she felt mixed in the form of a grotesque green-eyed beast who just wanted to bite Todoroki's head off.

"Sorry." The guy said and time stopped... Because unlike the last time, now both his expression and words were somehow warm.

He was being sincere.

"W-What...?"

"Sorry... But I don't know who you are." And then time resumed.

...And the beast devoured all her other emotions.

"Huh...?" Hitomi was surprised at herself for not just punching Todoroki's face and run away. But even that wouldn't make her feel better. "Of course you don't. It would be impossible for you to make a bit of space in your colossal head to remind little old me." She shrugged. "What am I even compared to you, the incredible and prodigious son of the No.2 Pro-Hero, but merely a poor attempt of a stepping stone...? NOT." Her expression turned fakely dismayed. "Were you expecting me to say something like that?!" She started walking to him. "As if I would, you big-headed-!" Suddenly a hand closed around her mouth silencing her.

She turned around, furious, only to find a nervous Izuku behind her.

Part of her anger dissipated, and they just looked at each other. It was hard to say who was more flustered by the other closeness.

"A-Ah." He looked away to the other boy. "S-Sorry Todoroki-san but can you give us a moment?" Before he could answer Izuku grabbed her hand and pulled her to the closest door.

He opened it and pulled her to the other side.

"G-God..." Izuku closed the door behind them and finally let Hitomi's hand go. "That was a-awfully uncomfortable." He sighed.

Meanwhile, she looked at him, both embarrassed and amused by the situation.

"Midoriya." She called his attention. "You pulled me to the club's bathroom." His eyes widened in horror.

"E-EH?!" He backed away as much as he could from her.

"You didn't make it on purpose, did you?" She tilted her head and narrowed her eyes at him. "You sure are getting bold, Midoriya."

"T-That wasn't my i-intention at all, I swear!" She tried not to laugh. _'So that's how a boiled Izuku looks like'_. It was funny enough that she almost forgot her previous anger at Todoroki.

"Then, what were you trying to do?" Izuku's expression turned somber.

"I didn't want things to e-escalate... It seemed as if you were about to brainwash Todoroki-san."

"...Really? Actually, my idea was more closer to kick him in the nuts." He cringed.

"T-That's even worse!"

"Is it?" She asked with disinterest. "What's even the point of all this, anyway?"

"W-What do you mean?"

"He being here..." She said coldly. "He says he wants advice, but for me, that's just bullshit." She snorted. "He is a _Todoroki_. I'm sure he could pay for the best Quirk analyst on the world if he wanted instead of coming here to waste your time. Heck, he could just go to his _dear daddy_ and ask him directly. It's just stupid not to do it considering they share a fire Quirk."

"I doubt that's an option for him, Shinsou-san." Hitomi evaded his gaze. She didn't like it when he looked at her with such a serious expression.

"What? Does Todoroki has daddy issues, after all?" Leaving aside the way he had reacted to her taunting during the Sports Festival, the fact is that there were some really nasty rumors about Endeavor and his family...

"T-That's not the point." Izuku sounded a bit strained. "I know you don't particularly like Todoroki but-."

"He is a bastard with his head stuck-up in his ass."

"It d-doesn't matter!" He shook his head. "He came here looking for help!"

"He is going to waste your time." She said irritated. "Todoroki Shoto is just an inconsiderate dumbass who doesn't even know how to act like a normal human being. Do you honestly want to help someone like him?"

"YES!" He yelled. "T-That's the reason this club exists! To help anybody that n-needs it!"

"Even if they treat you like trash and don't appreciate what you are doing for them?!"

"O-Of course!" Such words left her mind blank.

"...What?"

"I don't do this to receive people's t-thanks, Shinsou san. I already told you. I help people with their Quirks for the sake of helping and the s-satisfaction that brings me being useful." He sighed. "I know I can't get along with everybody. But d-disliking someone or being disliked won't stop me from giving them a hand if I c-can and they allow me to do it...! That's just the kind of person I am, Shinsou-san, and you can't convince me to act o-otherwise."

She stared at him, speechless. Feeling conflicted about the resentment she felt towards Todoroki and Izuku's conviction to help him.

In the end, the fire of her anger went out.

_'What am I even doing?'_ She felt like a complete fool. _'Why am I fighting with Izuku?' _

He was currently one of the few allies she had -the only one if she didn't count her parents- and despite that, here she was, trying to impose her petty views on him...

Even if she got along with Izuku and visited the club a pair of times already, she was still only a guest. She didn't have any right to complain about Todoroki being there.

...She was just acting in the same awful way she accused Todoroki of being.

"Sorry, Izuku." Hitomi said, looking anywhere but at him. She didn't want to find the disappointment in his eyes. "I have this bad habit of being a huge bitch when something or someone makes me angry." A self-deprecating smirk on her face. "So I'm sorry."

"Eh? T-That's not-..."

"It's fine. You know, I'll better just leave. See you tom-, eh, later... See you later. Text me whenever it's fine for me to visit again." She moved to the door, wanting to leave the room the faster she could, but Izuku's hand closing on her shoulder stopped her.

"W-Wait!" She flinched under his grasp and turned around slowly.

"Yes?" Her exterior seemed calm but deep inside she was drowning in awkwardness and, for her utter surprise, in dread.

At that moment she realized something important: She didn't want Izuku to think badly of her. She cared about what he thought of her.

"Y-You don't need to leave."

"...Really?" She couldn't hide her surprise.

"Y-Yeah... I mean, you can do it if you want to. But if not, you can just use the computer or read something u-until I finish talking with Todoroki-san."

"Are you okay with that?" She asked with some hesitation.

"I am... Just p-promise me you won't try to provoke Todoroki anymore."

"Even if he is being a prat?"

"E-Even if he is being a prat... So don't worry, I'll take care. And a-after that, we can follow with our business."

"_'Our business'_?" She inquired, liking how it sounded.

"I m-mean '_yours_'!" He corrected himself.

"It's your time too, Izuku. So saying '_ours_' is not completely wrong." She shrugged and opened the door.

"...Y-You called me by my first name again." He said in a whisper.

"Hmm?" She turned around with some curiosity.

"N-Nothing!"

* * *

Hitomi advanced directly to the PC desk, completely ignoring Todoroki.

Izuku saw her and sighed. That was a crisis he hadn't expected. Even though he knew that Hitomi had a big temper, he didn't understand its magnitude until now.

"Sorry for the waiting, Todoroki-san." He sat in front of Todoroki.

The inexpressive boy's eyes moved between him, Hitomi and the room, and then he asked:

"Did you two just enter the bathroom together?"

"...WHA-?!"

"Yes." Hitomi answered, her eyes still fixed on the PC monitor. "Not your _business,_ so stop making questions about it."

"Hmm... Okay." Todoroki nodded as if that had cleared everything.

What was Todoroki thinking they were doing in the bathroom while he waited...? Izuku sighed. He would need to correct that misunderstanding later.

"A-Anyway, you can continue with what you were saying, Todoroki-san."

"I heard some of my classmates talking about you and how you helped them with their Quirks." Izuku felt himself smile, swelling in pride. "I wish your help to diversify my techniques. So next time I fight with Bakugou, I'll win."

Izuku's smile widened. After all, the words of the other boy weren't something to take lightly. While there were some fascinating Quirks in both 1-A and 1-B classes, Shoto along with Katsuki were the powerhouses of the Hero Course's first-years.

"Perfect...! After watching your fight with Kaac-, I mean Bakugou, the thing that called more of my attention was the fact you remained stationary during almost all your attacks. And adding to that the way your Quirk works, it seems to me that you have problems keeping on against opponents that are not only strong but have higher mobility than yours, as in Bakugou's case... Just spamming your ice won't work all the time. Besides, in a real situation, such massive attacks would represent vast amounts of money lost on propriety damage and endangerment of civilians. So maybe you should try to train with your quirk to make more compact attacks with denser ice and hotter flames." Izuku failed to notice the change in Todoroki's expression. "I also recommend you to talk with the support department about this special polymer recently created that can conduct emission-Quirks energy. That will resolve your major problem by giving you the mobility you need, and will make so you don't need to start your ice attacks from ground contact anymore... OH! And I almost forgot about it. Considering the possibility of combining ice and fire, you could increase your mobility even more by creating small-scale thermal explosions and propel yourself around in the same way than Bakug-."

"Stop for a sec." Said Todoroki, interrupting him.

"U-Uh, yeah?" He said, somewhat embarrassed that even now it was hard for him to stop talking about Quirks when he got a little too excited.

"I'm sorry, but for the most part, I can't do what you are saying." Todoroki said, his voice calm but with a certain edge.

"W-Why? Did I make a wrong assumption about how your Quirk works or-?"

"I won't use my fire-side to fight." Such a ridiculous statement made Izuku's train of thought wreck.

"What are you talking about?" His previous excitement was gone, now he just felt confused. "I don't understand."

"There's nothing to understand. My fire is simply not something I can't use."

"A-Ah, of course! Fire can be dangerous." He forced a smile. "In a scenario like the Sports Festival, fighting with your ice would be undoubtedly the better option to avoid harming your opponents unnecessarily... However, with opponents like Bakugou, that choice would be ill-advised. If I remember correctly before he shot his Howitzer Impact at you, your fire-side flared for a moment and-."

"That was just a mistake I won't repeat," Todoroki grunted. "I just let myself go because of Bakugou being an insufferable asshole." _'Bakugou isn't the only one...'_

"Yeah." His smile faded and replaced with a frown. "He has the talent of making people hate his guts, but that's not the point..." He sighed, feeling a bit annoyed. "Your ice is incredible, Todoroki-san, that's true. But Bakugou's explosions are undeniable strong. Enough to break your ice, and he can keep going on no matter what you do and for how long the fight lasts..." For god's sake, in what kind of absurd situation had he got himself to need to praise Katsuki just to make a point?

He just made a sound and logical point to Todoroki... And his only payment was a glare.

"Are you saying I can't win?" Todoroki said, daring him to confirm it.

"...Yes, I am. You can't win with just your ice." He answered with no hesitation. "I know Bakugou better than you. I've seen him fight uncountable times..." He ignored the feeling of Hitomi's gaze on his back. "And I've fought him myself, losing more times I would like to admit and winning enough to know what are his limits... And I learned he doesn't care at all about destroying his own body to achieve victory. And with Bakugou, the more he fights, the more he'll sweat, and the stronger his explosions will be... He is tireless. And you won't be able to defeat him unless you use both your ice and your fire!"

"Shut up." Todoroki stood up and looked down on him, his right side emitting a gelid mist. It would be intimidating for any other person. But for Izuku it was only annoying him even further. "You... How much did he pay you!?"

"Who?"

"Endeavor...! How much money he gave you to convince me of using his damn Quirk?!" Izuku felt lost. What was he even talking about?

"Endeavor has nothing to do with this!" He stood up too. "This is about you. You and _YOUR_ Quirk." Todoroki's scowl only increased.

"Stop saying things like that when you know nothing about me." He hissed. "You won't ever understand what I lived! Being born cursed like this!" Izuku could only greet his teeth in anger. Of course, he would never be able to fully understand Todoroki's struggle... He didn't even have a Quirk, to begin with. And that was his curse. "But it doesn't matter. I don't need your bullshit!" The room temperature already was almost under 0°C. "I'll grow stronger only using my right-side and I'll raise over _him_ and everyone else. So when I become the No.1 Hero that'll show him I never needed _him_ and _his_ damned fire!"

No one talked for a moment. The only noise coming when they exhaled gelid and visible breaths.

Meanwhile, Todoroki seemed satisfied by Izuku's silence and his astonished expression. But that didn't last.

"Y-You just can't be serious, are you?" He reached to his hair while looking at Todoroki with both skepticism and exasperation. The silence of Todoroki being enough of an answer. "You are an idiot."

The silence returned, and this time it was absolute as if floating in the infinitely vast and empty space. This didn't last too much, either.

"WHAT?!" Todoroki advanced towards him, furious.

"DO YOU THINK THIS IS A GAME?!" He yelled back. "YOU, being the No.1 Hero?!" They were now in front of each other. Todoroki's superior height was more apparent than ever, but Izuku just couldn't care less. He even forgot that it was him who scolded Hitomi just a while ago for being hostile to Todoroki.

The boy with heterochromatic eyes had just crossed the line.

"I WILL BE!"

"YOU DON'T BECOME NO.1 WITH JUST EMPTY WORDS! You need to work harder than anybody else and sacrifice all your blood, sweat, and tears to be the pillar than society needs and deserve!" Izuku's hands gripped the taller boy by his collar shirt, ignoring the immediate feeling of frostbite on his fingers, making Todoroki's expression freeze on surprise. It was probably the first time someone treated him with such fierceness and indifference towards his upbringing and power. "Every day an uncountable number of heroes fight the crime without rest! Some of them win and others are defeated! And around 40% won't live to see their retirement...! All those individuals, worthy of respect, share the same quality! The one that was taken as UA's motto:_ PLUS ULTRA!_ They fight with all they have to show all the innocents that suffer and live in fear that there's still hope for them out there! And you think you can be like them and overcome them, with such selfish behavior and half-assed efforts...! AS IF!" Izuku pushed him away. "The way you are now, that's impossible! Even Endeavor as much as you hate him, and Bakugou as much of an asshole as he is, have more of an opportunity than you because at least they understand this...!" He felt his anger drain and be replaced with a sense of sadness and emptiness. "You need to understand, that if you keep walking through the same path what happened with Bakugou will eventually repeat itself but with an actual villain, and you'll get yourself killed because of your foolishness... Or worse... Someone else, someone innocent, will die for your fault... Because you didn't even try."

Todoroki looked him -or well, at his direction, Izuku wasn't sure if the other boy was really looking _at_ him or just _through_ him. His expression was hard to read.

Saying nothing else, Todoroki turned around and exited the room, leaving the door open, so part of the frosty air left with him.

Izuku remained still for a moment and then backed-up and sat on the sofa. It was still cold, but with time the calefaction would take care of warming up the room. At least the temperature was bearable.

With no advertence, Hitomi dropped beside him.

"Hmm. That sure was something..." She said casually, and he nodded. _Something_ was a funny way to describe it, though. "Are your fingers okay?"

"U-Uh?" He looked at his hands. His fingers were pale and felt stiff, but besides some small patches of blood here and there, they seemed to be fine. "Yeah, don't worry."

"Nah, not worrying at all. It's just it would suck if they just freeze and fell or something."

"T-That sounds scary." _And also a lie_. As normal as she was trying to act, Izuku could easily notice the funny way she was looking at him and the pink in her cheeks, even though the room wasn't that cold anymore.

She was worried about him.

"No shit. I thought he was going to freeze you and break you in tiny little pieces like in that video-game." Izuku flinched. "But here you are, alive and whole so I guess you did a good job, Mr. _'don't be hostile with the guest'._" She punched under the belt with that one... But she was right.

"Arrgh!" He covered his face and groaned. "I mess up, didn't I?!" She shrugged. "It w-wasn't my intention to act like that..." He dropped his hands and sighed. "It's just all the stuff Todoroki-san was saying-..."

"Made you mad?"

"...Yeah. It made m-me feel furious."

"...It was kind of hot." She mumbled.

"W-WHAT?!" He turned at her just to find her avoiding his gaze.

"I said that it was kind of dumb... From now on you should be careful when walking alone or Todoroki could use his influences to make you disappear or something."

"Eh... C-Could you not say disturbing stuff like that...?" She just laughed. "I-In any case, I overdid it."

"...It was unexpected. I didn't even think you could get angry, and especially not so much."

"N-Normally I wouldn't. I'm already used to dealing with troublesome people."

"Troublesome like Bakugou?" She looked at him with curiosity.

Of course, he wasn't lucky enough for her to forget about that...

"Yes." He nodded. He wasn't about to spill the beans about his problematic and loud ex-friend -if he ever was his friend to begin with-, but for the rest, Izuku felt as that he needed to at least try to explain part of the reasons behind his reaction. "I-It's just that when Todoroki started saying all those things he reminded me of someone..."

"Bakugou?"

"N-No..." He let out a dry laugh. "Myself."

"...You?" She asked skeptically. "I doubt you can be such an asshole."

"B-But a year ago I was a lot different from now... I was not only an unhappy person, but I was also fooling m-myself about my strengths and weakness, the w-way I lived my life, and what I wanted for the future... But then one day I met someone that made me see the truth, and immediately after that, something awful happened that made it impossible f-for me to deny my reality anymore."

"What do you mean with that?" She seemed obviously confused and slightly unnerved. But he just couldn't tell her all the truth...

"D-Don't worry about that for now. My point is that despite the pain those events brought me, I need them to grow up... So when Todoroki-san came to the club I thought h-he had already reached that turning point on his life too, after being defeated by Bakugou."

"But you were wrong?" She said and Izuku nodded with a sad smile.

"He is letting his p-pride and the hate he feels for Endeavor to limit what he can accomplish as a person... Just as I did, but for some different reasons. So I c-couldn't stop myself from being too hard on him, because I would have wished for someone to be that direct with me back then... When I m-met him again, I should try to apologize."

"I see..." She said, sounding conflicted. "Then, where does that leave me?"

"E-Eh...?"

"Wasn't I the same?" She said, insecure. "I was also half-assing everything, thinking that I could be the best with just my Quirk... I'm truly not that different from that guy." Izuku looked at her with surprise. The way she was acting... _'Does she think I'm going to think less of her because of that?' _

"You, Todoroki, and I are similar in that sense... But you are definitely the best one of us." She looked at him with a funny blushed expression. Part of him felt guilty for making her flustered... The other enjoyed how unaccustomed she was of being the one teased. "I-I mean, Todoroki is still stuck in the pit he made himself, and it took me months to get out of my own. B-But you only needed two days to put yourself together and plan what you would do to be better the next time." He smiled. "That's the reason I r-respect so much, Shinsou-san!" Now, seeing her half-annoyed and half-prideful flustered expression, he was unquestionably enjoying being the one doing the teasing.

"...I had help." His smile widened.

"G-Good!" He stood up with excitement. "Now that is just the two of us we can t-try some experiments I thought about yesterday!" Hitomi looked at him with amusement.

"_'Just the two of us'? 'Experiments'_...?" She was having trouble not laughing. "Pervert."

"I D-DIDN'T MEANT IT LIKE T-THAT!" He didn't, but now for her fault, such an idea was stuck in his mind.

* * *

**Okay. I have been thinking about how Shinsou would be as a hero, and I pretty much have some ideas for a costume and everything. But I have been wondering what could be a good codename? I thought about MindHack. What do you think?**

**Let your reviews, follow, and favorite. And if you want to support me, you can donate to my Ko-fi from the link on my profile.**

* * *

_**Hitomi: What kind of hero-name is King Explosion Murder...? How much of an idiot he is?**_

_**Next Chapter**__: __**Explosive Idiot - when you are at your lowest you can only go up.**_

_**Izuku: You have no idea.**_


	9. Explosive Idiot - Part 1

**To July 7th, 2020 =**

**-Reviews: 37**

**-Followers: 176**

**-Favourites: 122**

**-Reads: 11.223**

**Thanks to all of you for your support! And the reviews you have left!**

**Also, thanks to Shane McGowan Lives, that added this story to his community list!**

**Now let's start!**

* * *

**Chapter 7 - Explosive Idiot - Part 1.**

* * *

**Thursday, May 14th**

The moment Hitomi entered her home, she advanced directly to her room, feeling troubled despite her calm exterior.

"...It happened again." She whispered while biting her thumb's fingernail.

Izuku and her, once again, started to basically flirt with each other like fools.

It was as if they couldn't talk for lengthy periods without ending up complimenting each other. Which was nice, because receiving compliments stroked her ego and teasing him was fun... But it also made her feel weird afterwards.

"He likes me. I'm sure of it... And I can't just ignore it forever." Resolving such a situation would be easy. She just needed to confront Izuku and tell him she didn't feel the same... However, she was not 100% sure that was the case anymore. "...I don't have the time for this." She sighed. "I'll let future me deal with this mess." Hitomi advanced to her bed just to find a Siamese cat lying in the middle of it. "Mio, get down off my bed." She said, glaring at the cat, but the blue-eyed animal limited to stare at her lazily and then moved slightly to the border of the bed. "...You're lucky of being so cute." She lay down in the free space on the bed, next to Mio, and hugged the cat against herself. "Stupidly adorable furball." She relaxed with the sound of Mio's purring. "...I just need to keep my act together, and I'll be fine."

* * *

_'Fine, my ass! Why am I here?'_. Standing awkwardly in front of Izuku's classroom, glaring at anyone that looked at her funny... In other words, everyone!

Fortunately, it didn't take too much for Izuku to appear.

"S-Shinsou-san?" He seemed surprised. Understandable. It was the first time she got closer to him out of the club-room.

"'Morning, Midoriya..." She said, ignoring Izuku's classmates staring at her as if she was the Hachishakusama or something.

They weren't subtle at all... Were they acting like that because of her? Or because she was talking to Izuku?

"G-Good morning, too!" He gave her a small nod.

"Hmm. Going to breakfast?"

"Oh. Y-Yeah... Is something the matter?" He tilted his head with curiosity. The guy probably thought she only wanted to ask him about something Quirk-related...

Which was kind of funny, because when she first looked for Izuku's help, she had intended to keep things professional and business-focused... But now, that wasn't the case anymore. Now she wanted to be closer to Izuku at a personal level.

_'Because you can't work properly with someone if you don't understand them. So this is just something I'm doing for my own good'._ She thought, justifying herself for what she was about to do.

"...Not really. Just wanted to invite you to eat together." She said, her tone even, trying to maintain her mind blank of useless/weird thoughts.

She wasn't successful.

"...Y-You want to eat with me?" He said in a faint tone, sounding perplexed.

"Yeah, why not? If you aren't busy..."

The truth was that, beyond any of her personal feelings about it, this was something necessary from an objective point of view. After all, Izuku was still awkward around her most of the time. So hanging out together on their free time could help to make him get used to her so things would run smoother.

And yeah... She wanted to hang out more with him, anyway.

* * *

After stumbling in his words like there was no tomorrow, Izuku finally accepted.

Then she guided him to the place where she usually ate; a garden in the back part of the General Department building. All the while, the poor guy looked as if being carried to the slaughterhouse.

"Here we are." She sat on a bench. "This place is pleasant, and people rarely come around so we won't be bothered here." That was the reason she preferred to eat in that place.

It was easy for her to relax and lower her guard while being in there. But that didn't seem to be Izuku's case if the choking sound he let out was a sign. Hitomi looked at him with curiosity.

_'...Oh'. _Her face reddened the moment she understood his reaction. She just brought him to a secluded place and even said something shady like _'we won't be bothered here'. _So he was having weird thoughts... And now she was too.

"I mean, I'm not exactly close to my classmates, so I prefer to eat by myself." She explained, trying to disperse the situation. "What about you, Izuku?" And suddenly, she wanted to disappear.

She just slipped and called him by his first name again! ...It was as if her mind was getting used to calling him _'Izuku'_ while they were alone.

That could be problematic.

"I g-get along fine enough with them." He shrugged, ignoring or at least trying to ignore what she just did.

"Really?" He didn't sound that sure of it.

"Yeah... A-Ah. But I guess they are k-kinda, eh, intimidated by me."

"...Hmm." She supposed Izuku could be intimidating intellectually, but still... "Do they think you'll beat the shit out of them with your karate or something?"

"E-Eh, hehe. N-Not exactly." He scratched the back of his head. "Sorry, I haven't m-mentioned it before, but I'm, ah... A r-recommended student."

And that was enough to let her dumbfounded.

"...I didn't even know that the General Department had a recommendation program." She recognised.

"It hasn't." He said, happy but flustered. "I-I was a rare case."

"Huh? I don't know why I'm surprised... You are amazing like that." She whispered the last part.

"W-What?"

"That your food will get cold, I-, Midoriya." She took her bento out of her bag. While he nodded and did the same, opening it with a shy smile on his face. "...What do you have?" She looked at the box's content. It was nothing special perse, pretty much the same her mother normally cooked for her. But the arrangement... "Pffffttt!" She tried to hold her laugh.

_'Have a wonderful school day, Izuku'_ was written over the rice's portion using soy sauce. And the vegetables were cut in the undeniable form of All Might's head. It was both cute and funny... And it gave her a reason to tease Izuku, so it was even better.

"Adorable... Not going to lie, your mom did a great job."

"...S-She always overdoes it like this, even when I don't stop t-telling her I'm not a small k-kid anymore." He said, his face boiling in embarrassment.

"You can't win against mothers. And you aren't precisely tall so you'll have to deal with it." She said with a smirk and opened her bento... And wanted to eat her own words.

"...I-Is something-?" Izuku looked at her and immediately noticed her bento... Her cat-themed bento. "Oh... I g-guess you were right, hehe. You just can't win a-against them." He laughed softly. "But I doubt height has a-anything to do with it."

"...I like cats. Cats are cool." She tried to say something to justify herself, but such a lame thing was the only that came to her mind. So she just started eating.

"...D-Do you have a cat, Shinsou san?" He asked and took a bite of his food.

"Actually, I do. Her name is Mio." She answered. "...How did you know?"

"J-Just guessed. You look l-like a cat-person, Shinsou-san." He commented.

"Do I...? What does _'looking like a cat-person' _even means?" She asked, squinting her eyes.

"Just, eh, y-you know."

"No, I don't. Please elaborate." She smirked, enjoying his nervous face.

"You... Are k-kinda like a cat." He said, finally.

"Huh... Midoriya, I'm a cat owner, and I'm still not sure if that was supposed to be a compliment or not."

"I-It is!" He exclaimed. "Kinda... W-What I mean, is that you are a really independent and strong-willed individual, w-with this cool but calm presence around yourself. And d-despite being a relatively nice person you are also temperamental if ones consider w-what happened with Todoroki yesterday." The more Izuku explained, the more nervous he looked. "So, it g-gave me the impression you can be quite, eh, fickle. Always doing only what you want to do, without caring what others say or do, like-."

"A cat?" She lifted an eyebrow.

"Y-Yeah... Sorry if I o-offended you!" He bowed at her.

"He. I would... If you weren't completely right." He sighed in relief... However, it was embarrassing that he understood her so well. "You seem more like a dog-person to me, though."

"D-Do I?" He pointed at himself.

"Yes, you do... I won't explain why."

"T-That's unfair." He frowned slightly.

"You are better off not knowing why." She smirked while he 'glared' at her... When he wasn't being his more serious self, he reminded her of a puppy. "And in any case, I like dogs too."

* * *

**You sure will be asking me, **_**"Where the fuck is Bakugou?"**_

**Well, this chapter was supposed to be around 4-5k words or so. But it has been a while since I update this story, and my other main story, Green Pheromones, hasn't been updated since a month and a half ago and I wasn't even aware of it. So I divided this chapter and post the first part, so I can update Green Pheromones meanwhile. So at least you have some cute scenes with Hitomi and Izuku before Bakugou rears his ugly face.**

**Review, favourite and follow! And if you want to support me, you can donate to my ko-fi. The link is on my preview.**

**Also, if you like fantasy writing, I would like to invite you to read my original Story **_**"The Union Forest", **_**that I'm starting to write and post on **_**Tapas**_**.**

**Have a nice day, guys.**


	10. Explosive Idiot - Part 2

**To July 7th, 2020 =**

**-Reviews: 44**

**-Followers: 204**

**-Favorites: 149**

**-Reads: 15.113**

* * *

**God, doing this chapter felt stressful for some weird reason. Maybe because it was a bit serious, not sure.**

**The fact I'm a lazy fuck doesn't help.**

**WARNING for foul language, because of you-know-who.**

**Hope you like the chapter!**

* * *

**Chapter 8: Explosive idiot - Part 2.**

* * *

Hitomi felt happy. She didn't show it -she never did-. But she was it.

If she were a regular girl, she'd be smiling like an idiot.

_'Hey, you feel like this because you are walking with a guy you find attractive and like him to a certain extent. Deep inside, you are just a normie like everyone else.' _She couldn't negate her feelings but tried not to think about them for the moment. _'Suck it up, future me. This mess is your problem'. _

Suddenly, Izuku stopped walking, and when she looked in the same direction as him, she found someone she didn't expect to meet again so soon.

"Hmm, I found you," said Todoroki in a neutral voice.

She almost snapped at the guy again but decided to better remain an observer.

Todoroki didn't seem confrontational, so she would let Izuku deal with him for now. But if the prick tried to do anything funny, he'd seriously regret it.

Todoroki and Izuku got closer and after a moment of silence...

"I apologize!" "I'm sorry," they said at the same time.

"Why are you apologizing? You were right." Todoroki frowned in confusion. "I thought about it, and as much as it frustrates me, it's true I need to use my fire-side if I really want to surpass All Might and my father someday." A smile inched on Izuku's face; his words had reached Todoroki.

"I meant what I said. Both fire and ice are part of your Quirk, so you should use them. There's no reason you should restrict yourself. But I don't know your circumstances, so I shouldn't have been so harsh about it. So sorry about that."

"It's fine. I'd have ignored you otherwise." People rarely said stuff like that. The guy was too blunt for his own good.

"Good...?" Izuku muttered, uncertain on how to interact with someone as socially awkward as him in his old-times.

Todoroki nodded. "That's kinda the reason I came here, to say sorry and thank you for your help."

"It was no problem." He extended his hand to the taller guy, who looked at him weirdly before finally shaking his hand.

_'God, was I like this before...? Yes, I was,' _he thought._ '_I still kinda behave like that around Hitomi._'_

"Hmm. I should go." Todoroki took a few steps but paused after noticing Hitomi.

"What?" she asked while the guy just looked at her in silence.

"Sorry for leaving you frozen." She glowered at him, but if Todoroki noticed, he obviously couldn't care less because he just walked away.

"That guy is too much..." She sighed in exasperation. Dealing with him was going to give her an ulcer or something.

"He is not that bad. I know someone a lot worse..."

"Right," said Hitomi, incredulous. "At least everything ended pacifically. I'm almost disappointed."

"E-eh? Did you expect things to go wrong?" She smirked maliciously at him. "D-don't answer that question..."

Looking at her watch, Hitomi noticed there were only some minutes left for the end of recess.

"Thanks for accepting my invitation, Midoriya." Hanging out with him was enjoyable, even when they just talked about random stuff. She definitely wanted to make it a routine. "Would you mind eating together tomorrow?"

"O-of course not! I told you, y-you are always welcome!" He gave her that stupidly handsome smile of his that made it difficult for her to remain calm.

"Cool," Hitomi said, flustered, and walked to her classroom, too distracted to notice the blond idiot running in her direction before it was too late.

"DON'T RUN AWAY FROM ME, YOU FUCKING HALF AND HALF!" The dirty-mouthed swine that could only be Bakugo Katsuki collided with Hitomi at full speed, knocking her down, and continued forwards without even sparing her a glance. "GET BACK HERE!" He disappeared in the same direction as Todoroki, leaving her sprawled on the floor.

"W-what the-? Look at where you go!" she yelled, despite knowing the guy was too far to hear her.

"A-are you okay?!" Izuku helped her up. "Did you hurt anything?" He scanned her up and down, worried and upset in equal parts.

"No." She shook her head. "I am fine, but that damned idiot-..."

That damned idiot was walking back to them.

For a moment, she thought he had heard her but discarded the idea because Katsuki's attention was on Izuku and not her.

"Deku," he grunted with disdain, "what the fuck are you doing here?"

Izuku looked unimpressed, though, barely lifting an eyebrow at the sociopath in front of him.

"Studying...?" He shrugged. "Unlike you, my classroom is on this floor. You are the only one out of place, _Kacchan_." Bakugo's eye twitched in irritation at hearing the childish nickname, and by how Izuku said it, that was clearly what he intended.

She would gladly give him a hand.

"_Kacchan," _she repeated, holding her laugher. "Such a cute nickname doesn't suit him, Midoriya."

"Don't meddle in this!" Bakugo yelled and tried to approach, but Izuku got in the middle to shield her.

"Stop! Just say whatever you want to say and go away."

"HUH?! You got some nerve if you think you can order me what to fucking do, nerd!" The guy cackled madly.

"Said the pot to the kettle," she muttered with displeasure.

"Kacchan, this is not the place for this so listen to me-."

"No, YOU listen to me! UA only accepted you because they felt sorry for your useless ass, so get down that stupid cloud you are on! Don't believe yourself the big shit only because now you are fucking this humongous bitch!" His eyes shifted to Hitomi.

She ground her teeth, looking at Bakugo with despise, and the bastard dared to smirk at her as if believing she wouldn't do anything.

How wrong he was. He knew nothing of her and the inescapable wrath of a teenage girl... But before she could brainwash him and humiliate him in the worst way possible, Izuku intervened.

"Go back to your classroom, you cocky jerk," Izuku said, and by his expression, he felt incredibly pissed off. "Don't take it on us just because the Sports Festival didn't go as you wanted."

"WHAT?!" Bakugo and grabbed Izuku by the collar of his shirt. "REPEAT THAT, YOU FUCKING NERD! I FUCKING DARE YOU!"

"Hah. You don't learn anything, do you...?" Izuku's felt a bit of pity for Bakugo, but more than anything, he was disappointed. Izuku thought the guy would mature and chill a little after entering UA, but no, he was the same prick than always. "I don't fear you anymore." He grabbed Bakugo's hands and slowly unmade the hold he had on his shirt. The way Bakugo winced betrayed the crushing strength behind Izuku's grasp. The green-haired boy didn't yield, despite the sizzling sweat that burned his fingers. "Unlike our previous school, UA is NOT your playground. You can't just go around doing whatever you want, assuming the teachers will just look aside because you have a strong Quirk. That ended!"

"Shut up," Bakugo grunted, uselessly trying to escape from Izuku's vice grip, but somehow he was being overwhelmed by the same boy he used to push around when they were younger. It was incomprehensible, ridiculous, and it made him rage even more. "JUST FUCKING SHUT UP!" When pulling and pushing didn't work, he did the next best thing: Headbutting his opponent repeatedly. But if that hurt Izuku, the little guy didn't show any signs.

"I thought by now you would understand the world doesn't revolve around you. Seems I was wrong."

"BACK OFF!" Bakugo tried to kick him or knee him in the guts, but Izuku's footwork was superior and blocked him, finishing with a swipe that brought Bakugo to his knees.

"You aren't the stronger student in this school," said Izuku, glaring at Bakugou with his intense green eyes. "You are not even the strongest in your own class." He pushed Bakugo, making him fall on his back. "Get it in your head and grow up!"

It was then that Bakugo noticed that at least a dozen students had witnessed their quarrel. He stood up immediately, seething in anger because of such humiliation.

"Do it," said Izuku, unaffected despite the hateful glare he was receiving. "Do your worst. I'll fight back. But remember, you are a student from the Hero Course, besides this year's representative, and champion of the Sports Festival, starting a fight with the recommended Quirkless student from the General Course. So think if it's worth it because you're the only one that'll lose something from this."

Bakugo was seething in anger, as a boiler about to explode, but he didn't attack Izuku.

"You'll pay for this, Deku..." he said through his gritted teeth.

"Stop talking like an anime villain and just leave," Izuku responded, while the infuriated guy abandoned the scene.

The students present -some of them, Izuku's classmates- looked at him in astonishment. Fortunately, the school bell chimed then, and they fled back to their classrooms, so only Izuku and Hitomi remained.

He took a tentative glance at the girl, and she was staring at him, both impressed and worried.

"It's the first time I see someone winning a dispute despite being the only one injured."

Hitomi wasn't wrong; he had some burns on his hands, and his forehead was bleeding slightly. They were only superficial injuries, though.

"I should g-go to the infirmary. Um, see you later, Shinso-san-..."

"I'll go with you." She immediately started following him.

"You d-don't have to."

"Hey, you acted like a gentleman and defended my honor, defeating the ugly blond dog that badmouthed me," she said, half-joking. "I owe you one. Besides, the infirmary is not this way." Izuku stopped short. "You are going in the wrong direction."

"I k-know." He looked sheepish.

"Oh... You are not going to the infirmary, are you?" She squinted her eyes at him.

"N-no. See, these w-wounds aren't that bad, Shinso-san. I have first-aids training and a k-kit in the clubroom. I can treat them myself," he explained, making her frown.

"So, the teachers won't know what happened? Midoriya, you can't protect that bastard-!"

"I'm not protecting him." He interrupted her. "My classmates saw everything, Shinso-san, so they'll tell our teacher about it. And t-there are hidden cameras everywhere, so I'm sure that by next class, both the Headmaster and Bakugo's homeroom teacher will know what happened." He smiled encouragingly. "So go to class and don't worry about me. I'll fix m-myself and rest for a while in the clubroom, and then we can practice with your Quirk after classes."

"Hmm. If you say so..." Hitomi would prefer someone professionally qualified to treat him. But she had the feeling Izuku didn't want to show other people he was hurt. It was probably one of those '_guys show no weaknesses_' kind of things. However, there was something she found curious. "You mentioned resting?"

"Y-yeah." He nodded. "Dealing with Bakugo is always m-mentally exhausting. So I'll take a rest."

"For how much?" she asked, feeling inquisitive.

"F-for the entire class period. I just don't feel like I'll be able t-to concentrate even if I try."

"Ah." She was speechless for a moment. "Let me understand this. You are going to skip class?" He nodded while avoiding her gaze. "Isn't that going to get you in trouble? I mean, you are a recommended student and stuff."

"Actually, I have a p-permit to skip classes if I need to. The teachers don't mind as long as I maintain my good grades."

"Man. You are my hero." Izuku laughed a bit. "Well, I'll go with you, anyway."

"Are y-you sure?"

"Yeah, why not?" She put her arm around his shoulder and smirked at him. "Let's be school delinquents together."

* * *

Hitomi was lying down on the couch of the clubroom, observing lazily how Izuku finished bandaging his fingers.

"Done?" Izuku just stood there looking at his hands without saying a word. "Izuku?"

"A-ah, what?" He looked at her, disoriented.

"Are you fine...?"

"Yeah." He flexed his fingers. "They'll b-be fine by tomorrow."

"If you say so..." She sat down and stared at him, feeling somewhat awkward. "Izuku, I want to ask you something."

"Oh, w-what is it?"

"About Bakugo." Izuku's expression turned rigid. "Listen, I normally keep myself out of people's business... Though, that's because I normally don't interact with anybody at all," she muttered, realizing how sad that sounded. "Anyway, my point is this time I couldn't. I would lie if I said I'm not curious, but mainly I'm worried about you and whatever is Bakugo's problem with you." Izuku's eyes widened in surprise.

"You are w-worried about me?" he asked. His cheeks blushed.

"Of course, I am. You are..." _'He is what?'_ Her stupid mind fought against itself to decide how to phrase it. "My _ally_." It sounded so awkward. Anyone else would call him a_ 'friend',_ but in her case, that word made her cringe. "You have helped me a lot, so the least I can do is to keep an eye on you and see you're fine. And since you mentioned Bakugo yesterday, I felt as if something was off."

"What do you mean?" He tilted his head.

"I just couldn't imagine you being Bakugo's friend, and you said you fought him before. So, after seeing how hostile he was to you, I can only assume the worst..."

"Your a-assumptions are probably right." He gave her a sad smile. So there was bullying involved... Next time, she would make Bakugou suffer like never before... "Though you are wrong in something."

"Uh...? In what?"

"Would you believe me if I told you Bakugo, and I used t-to be friends?"

"No," she answered immediately. Just the idea was bizarre; two people so different just couldn't get along.

"Well, you are wrong." He grinned in amusement. "We are neighbors, and our m-mothers are friends, so we hanged out a lot when we were kids. We even had the same dream of being heroes like All Might, so we became close friends, at least on my part. Maybe I was just a lackey to him..." He shrugged. "I know is hard to imagine, but despite being brash, Bakugo wasn't that bad when he was younger."

"You are right. I found it hard to imagine a mini-Bakugo not being the spawn of Satan."

"Understandable... He was rough around the edges, no doubt, but still a decent kid. The problems started after he got his Quirk, and I was diagnosed Quirkless. From the start, the other boys respected him greatly and followed him everywhere because of his energy and braveness, but when he got his Quirk, even the adults praised him for everything he did. That only exacerbated all the negative traits of his personality until he turned into the guy he is now..."

"So he got a big-head because everyone kissed the floor on which he walked?" she asked for confirmation.

"Basically. And he started acting hostile to anyone he thought was offending him or threatening his standing as the _N°1 _in the school."

"And that was you?"

"Y-yes. If only because I wanted to be like him. But I was Quirkless, the weakest of the weakest in Bakugo's mind, so he thought I was underestimating him and believing myself better."

"That's not a belief, but a fact. You are better than him."

"E-eh? T-thanks." He turned red again. For such a great guy, he sucked at taking compliments. Or maybe only when it was she who gave them. "In any c-case, we distanced from each other after that. Though I still call him by his childhood nickname, if only to annoy him." He chuckled softly.

"Hehe, you gutsy bastard." She smirked. "You would be a better hero than that jerk." Izuku's expression darkened suddenly.

"N-not necessarily." He avoided her eyes again.

"Eh?" His sudden change of demeanor perplexed her, but then she remembered...

_'...to others who can be what I can't...' _The day they met, Izuku said that about his reason to help others to be heroes.

Even though it was obvious, she hadn't given it much thought. Just like her, Izuku wanted to be a hero, or at least used to.

"I didn't mean to offend you, Midoriya. I apologize." She tried to bow, but Izuku shook his head.

"It's n-not that. You didn't say a-anything bad. It's just..." He looked at his hands, deep in thought. Then he nodded as if having decided what to do. "Um, Shinso-san?"

"Yes?"

"Does the _'sludge villain incident' _sound familiar to you?" Izuku looked nervous but determined.

"Sorry, it doesn't."

"It's f-fine. It was just a small villain attack that occurred on Musutafu about a year ago." Izuku moved to the club PC and started typing. "H-here it is. They recorded the whole thing." He stood up so she could sit. "You should t-take a look."

A HeroTube video was on the current tab. _'All Might defeats sludge villain'_ was its title. She pressed the play button.

_Someone between the multitude of people observing the chaos recorded the video. _

_There were pro-heroes in the scene, but they simply kept the civilians at a safe distance of the villain while it used the explosion Quirk of its hostage to destroy the surroundings. _

_Such Quirk revealed the identity of the blond kid squirming desperately inside the mass of sludge. _

_Then a green-haired boy started moving through the multitude towards the villain's direction. She recognized it was Izuku immediately and understood he intended to save Bakugo. _

_But one of the pro-heroes stopped the boy and dragged him away from the danger._

_Izuku yelled between sobs, asking for someone to help his classmate, and tried to escape from the hero's hold to do something himself, but it was useless. He could only observe while his childhood friend got closer and closer to drowning. _

_It was an unnerving and heart-wrenching scene to see._

_But when everything seemed hopeless, All Might appeared and attacked the villain, defeating it with only one punch, while also freeing Bakugo with no harm done._

Then the video finished.

"P-pathetic, isn't it?" muttered Izuku, with a self-deprecating smile.

"Of course not! There were four pro-heroes there, and none of them did anything. At least you tried."

"And f-failed... But t-that's not the point. What happened was my fault."

"How could that be possibly your fault?" she questioned him.

"Shinso-san, Bakugo w-wasn't the first boy attacked by that villain. T-that was me. All Might saved me and t-trapped the villain in a bottle about 15 minutes before. That should have been the end of the villain's rampage..."

"But it escaped," she muttered.

"I got a hold on All Might's shirt when he attempted to fly off the scene. It was f-for being focused on me he didn't notice when the bottle fell and broke, letting the villain free again. And Bakugo almost died for my fault." Izuku's eyes spoke of anger and frustration at his own past actions, but also acceptation of his mistakes.

Hitomi didn't know what to say.

Objectively speaking, it was true, Izuku was partially responsible for the incident occurring. But ultimately, it was the villain itself who committed such villainous actions, not Izuku.

However, she was pretty sure nothing she said would convince Izuku to forget about his fault on the matter.

"You know the worst part?" She shook her head. "The reason I didn't let All Might go was that I wanted to ask him if I c-could be a hero despite being Quirkless... That was the t-turning point in my life, and All Might said _no_."

"He did?" She didn't expect that. Wasnt All Might the one who always said anyone could be a hero if they tried it hard enough?

"Yeah. He put the facts on the table and explained why it was too dangerous for me to be a hero. He wasn't mean about it, just realistic. He even gave me some job options to consider if I really wanted to help people, and after rescuing Bakugo, he even apologized for being so blunt. So thinking about it now, I can only feel grateful for his sincere words... But at the time, I felt u-utterly useless. Being a hero had been my greatest dream and motivation, the reason I gained an interest in Quirk analysis, so after I lost that, I didn't know what to do with myself..." Izuku breathed deeply. "However, after almost two months of dwelling in that pit of emptiness, I had an epiphany."

"About what?" Hitomi asked, fearing the answer. She already knew Izuku had it tough that was a sad certainty for everyone Quirkless in the current era. She had even been _told _about it...

But putting herself in Izuku's place made her heart hurt indescribably.

"I realized All Might's words weren't what broke me. I was already like that from the start... All those years, I let every insult and abuse get to me. Every day, I kept saying I would be a hero again and again, but deep inside, I lost any ounce of confidence I had on that being possible. So I just lived on inertia, only doing the bare minimum, while tricking myself into believing everything would be fine when actually I was just waiting for the last drop in the glass that would let me stop with that pitiful charade and accept the truth."

"You mean your encounter with All Might," she muttered, and he nodded.

"Then I understood how weak I was... And I hated it. I felt disgusted at myself and how gullible I had been to think I could be a hero without making any effort. I wanted to change, to be better. So I did everything I could to show Bakugo and everyone else that they were wrong when they said I was hopeless..."

"Huh. I can sympathize with that feeling."

"Y-yes. It's one thing we have in common. And that's the story, Shinso-san." Izuku noticed the complicated expression on Hitomi's face. The story had clearly affected her. "Are you disappointed?" he asked, trying to hide his apprehension.

"What-? No!" She shook her head, feeling upset.

"It's j-just... I noticed you seem to have a really good opinion of me, but I have messed up a lot before, and I still do, just like everyone else."

"I know you are not perfect." She looked at him with comprehension. "Nobody is. But what rubs me in the wrong way is the implications..."

"W-what about it?"

"You just said it. I have you in high esteem." She looked aside. "But even you gave up your dream. So, what is going to happen to me?" She felt uncertain about her future.

"Oh, t-that's easy." He smiled gently. "You'll be a great hero. I just told you before, y-you are stronger than me. So don't have any doubts about it."

"Hmm. Whatever you say." She frowned, but on the inside, she was melting._ 'Stupid Izuku and his stupid nice words. I don't know how to deal with this stupid warmness...'_

"If it helps you to see things in a more positive light. Despite how it bothers me to be reminded of the past me -which happens every time I cross paths with Bakugo-, I don't feel any regrets. All those experiences molded me into the person I am now. But want to know something else?" He spoke in an eager tone.

"Yeah?"

"After being accepted in UA -feeling more confident about myself-, I actually thought about taking part in the Sports Festival to get transferred to the Hero Course. And I think it could have worked if I had tried."

"Then why you didn't?" She couldn't see any reason not to. The guy was smart and strong, so with the help of support items, he could be a very efficient underground hero.

"By the time the Sports Festival came around, I just didn't wish to do so anymore." Seeing her confusion, Izuku explained. "I received my UA recommendation because of an essay about Quirk analysis I did during middle school and taking part in the Quirk Research Club was one requirement my mentor set for me to be accepted definitely. So even if doing Quirk analysis was my hobby, all this," he waved his arms, indicating the whole room, "was forced upon me... But now, here I am. Finally happy with my life, and I couldn't imagine myself doing anything else. And it was because I understood this: There are millions of heroes out there, and I know most of them can do the same things than me and probably better, except for understanding Quirks as I do. So I'll let the pros take care of heroics, and I'll help them reach their maximum potential instead. After all, despite all the good they do, there are few people that heroes can count on, and I want to be one of them."

"Well... You are doing a good job on that."

"Y-you too."

The rest of the day -Quirk training aside- was uneventful, but by the end, Hitomi felt a lot closer to Izuku.

She couldn't wait for tomorrow.

* * *

**Hmm, I wasn't sure how to end this chapter. And god, this one turned longer than I expected. Next time this happens, I'll probably cut the chapter into 1500-2000 words parts.**

**A little notice: Because I'm a masochist who has like 12 different active stories, I decided a priority order for the updates, focusing mainly on my two main fics, that are **_**this one**_** and **_**Green Pheromones**_**. So I'll try to update this way:**

**"Do as I say not as I do" update = random story update = "Green Pheromones" update = random story update = and repeat**

**In any case, see you next time!**

* * *

**Hitomi: I know I told you to put me down, but I didn't mean this...**

**Izuku: E-EH?! Better l-lets continue sparring before Kendo kills us!**

**Hitomi: I hate you so much right now.**

_**Next Chapter: Karate girl**_** \- No pain, no gain.**

**Hitomi: At this rate, you'll turn me into a masochist. I hope you assume responsibility...**


	11. Karate Girl

**You know guys. Right now, this particular fic is like my baby, and it's going to be considerably longer than my other stories (About 100k words I would say). **

**For that reason, I created a calendar to register the canon events of MHA (I need to thank chaotickairos on Reddit for his unofficial timeline) and the events of my story, so I don't mess up anything.**

**To this chapter, only five days have passed. And we still have MONTHS of the story in front of us. Of course, in the next chapters, the pace will accelerate, but for now, enjoy the journey.**

**PD: I edited the previous chapter's format to add the dates of each day.**

**PDD:**** I have to inform you. I created a discord server, in case you want to hang out and discuss with me about these stories, MHA, or other stuff. It would be nice! **

**The link is:**

**discord DOT gg SLASH CvQvGQY**

**(you can also find it on my profile)**

* * *

**Chapter 9: Karate Girl**

* * *

**Friday, May 15th**

"Shinso-san, you still haven't joined a club. Are you having any trouble?" asked her teacher. If the man was naïve or just annoying, she wasn't sure.

After meeting Izuku and all that followed, she had completely forgotten about it.

To begin with, she wasn't interested in joining a club at all. And no clubs were interested in her joining...

Well, maybe that was a lie. Since the Sports Festival, her classmates were less annoying than before, but that didn't make them her _friends._

The idea of having them around her longer than necessary, forcing themselves to be friendly when they didn't really mean it, was nauseating.

It would be torture for all the parts involved, and she wasn't THAT evil.

"No. I just forgot. I'll do it tomorrow, Sensei."

"Fine." The man sighed. "Make sure of that. If not, I'll have to put you in any of the clubs that need members." She nodded and exited the classroom.

She had to solve this. And she could only see one possibility...

* * *

"Are y-you free this afternoon?"

Hitomi stared at him, speechless, her cheeks warming up despite her best effort to act smug about it. "What? Are you inviting me somewhere?" she teased him. "If that's it, I'll be in your care."

"Eh?" It took him a moment to catch her drift. "N-no, It's not that! I mean, it k-kinda is." He shook his head. "It's about your training in the Dojo. I told Kendo-san about you, and she s-said we could go today if you had the time."

"Oh."

"It's fine if you c-can't this time. I know it is very sudden."

"Nah. It's fine. I'll just tell my parents and see if they give me the green light."

_'Good luck on your date. Remember to bring your mother a souvenir' _was her father's answer.

She would strangle someone when she came back home.

* * *

Fifteen minutes traveling on train and a short walk later, they arrived at Kendo's place.

"This was the real deal, after all," she muttered, genuinely impressed.

Down the long stairs in front of them, there was an old building. It looked just like a classic dojo from a martial arts movie. It was amazing despite its obvious age.

"Let's go, Shinsou-san." Izuku went ahead, and she followed after him.

"Now that I think about it, it's kind of weird."

"What?" He looked at her with curiosity.

"Aren't dojos usually at the peak of the mountains? Like, you have to climb up a ridiculously long stair to get inside. But this is the opposite."

"I g-guess that only happens in manga," commented Izuku. He looked worried, though, as if he knew something she didn't.

The dojo's big double-doors were open, so she took a look.

Inside, there were half a dozen people of various ages -some were barely a couple years older than them, while others were around the same age as her parents- clothed on karate-gis, imitating the movements of the two individuals in front of them with total synchrony.

On the right stood that girl from Class 1-B, Itsuka Kendo. While on the left was a bulky and tall man -taller than her-, with short red hair and beard. His face was marred by an ugly scowl and complemented with his deep-green bulging eyes and thick eyebrows.

The man looked like an oni.

"Let me guess, the angry daruma over there is your Sensei." Izuku almost chokes because of her commentary.

"P-please, don't call him that where h-he can hear you!" he chided her, divided between nervousness and amusement.

Once they walked inside, Itsuka smiled at them and approached.

"It's great to see you guys could come." The girl looked at her. "My name is Itsuka Kendo. Midoriya-kun told me about you. It's nice to meet you," said the girl with a level of energy Hitomi couldn't even dream to match.

"Hitomi Shinso. A pleasure to make your acquaintance." For some reason, the red-haired girl found her lacking response funny.

"You remind me of Kodai-chan and Yanagi-chan."

"And that's good?" She had no idea who those people were.

Itsuka covered her mouth, trying not to laugh. "S-sorry. I kinda imagined you three doing karaoke and I just couldn't..." Itsuka shook her head, managing to dispel that weird scenario from her thoughts. "Hah. Just follow me." She guided them to a separate room. "Okay! Until we cover the basics, we'll train in here."

"We?" she repeated, looking at Izuku.

"I'll assist Kendo-san," he added.

"Am I supposed to call you Midoriya-sensei then?" Izuku blushed like a tomato while trying to answer, just as she expected and liked.

Even though they didn't realize, Itsuka paid special attention to their exchange.

"This is going to be entertaining," muttered the girl. She never met a pair of people that were so obviously into each other.

* * *

"You are tall, so tell me if there's any problem with the size," commented Itsuka, while Hitomi changed into the karate-gi the girl had given to her.

"Hmm. Can I make you a question?"

"Of course. What is it, Shinso-chan?"

"Izuku told me about the fee for assisting to the dojo, and it was a LOT lower than I expected, so I was wondering…"

"If there was any catch?" continued the girl.

"I guess I'm not the first one to ask that?" Hitomi poked her head out of the dressing room's curtain.

"Neither the first nor the last. And no, there's no catch. The fee is cheap because Dad doesn't do this for the money." Itsuka probably detected her incredulity, because she added, "Really. Dad teaches PE in a middle school of the neighbor, and he loves his job. This is simply an extension of that he does as a hobby."

"I see. I just found it weird there were so few students with the fee being that cheap... Also, the top part of the gi is a bit small."

"Oh, try this one." Itsuka gave her another. "And well, about that, we used to have more people in the dojo before. We even had a website and got new visitors all the time…! But they always left us sooner than later."

"Weird."

"Not really. Most of them underestimated Karate and weren't as committed to it as Midoriya-kun or me, so when things got tougher than they expected, they simply stopped assisting... Dad didn't take such a thing nicely."

"He went that mad?" she asked, imagining a guy so menacing as Itsuka's father angry at her.

"He cried."

"In anger…?"

"No. He just cried."

She poked her head out again. "I can't possibly conceive that ever happening."

Itsuka snorted. "Dad isn't as scary as he looks. He is really sensitive to stuff like that. For that reason, I had to put down the website. Now we get by ear-to-ear recommendations. It gets us fewer students than before, but the ones we get take us seriously. So it's fine."

"You'll hate me then," she muttered dispassionately and moved the curtain out of the way.

"Do you feel comfortable with that one?"

"Yeah."

_'Wonder how Izuku looks with a gi? '_

"Also, what did you mean by hating you?"

"Ah. You heard that." She scowled. In this situation, she could simply lie, and be free of troubles, but after Itsuka was so open with her, that didn't feel like an option anymore, even if she came out as rude. "You see, I didn't choose Karate. Midoriya recommended it to me and I decided to give it an opportunity because I trust in him. That's all… I wanted to learn how to fight and didn't really cared if it was Karate or another martial art. Anything would have worked for me."

"You just wanted to get strong… Because you want to be a hero, right?" If Itsuka was bothered by her admission she wasn't showing it. Her expression was neutral.

"Yeah. I'm not doing it for the love of Karate or any deep reason. So sorry if that puts me on your black-list."

"I see... Answer this, Shinso-chan. Are you going to give up when things get tough? "

"No," she answered immediately.

"Because they will." Itsuka's expression turned stern. "Classes will get more difficult progressively. They will be exhausting and painful. And the exigencies won't ever stop increasing. You'll spill blood, sweat, and tears from beginning to end."

"Do you mean it figuratively or-?"

"Literally!" Itsuka interrupted her. "You'll reach a point when you'll regret ever accepting Izuku's invitation. So rethink about it, and tell me, are you going to give up?" The easygoing friendly girl that welcomed Izuku and her had disappeared.

This was the heir of the dojo, in all her might and solemnity.

"Of course not!" She answered with just as much passion. "I'm too stubborn for that... I will probably complain a lot, though. But I won't give up. I can't give up." _'Not when people -the ones who actually matter- believe I can do it'._

"Well said." Itsuka expression softened. "I think we'll get along!" The girl smiled and extended her hand to Hitomi, who shook it immediately.

She thought the same.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the males' dressing room…

Despite being a teenage boy, Izuku always felt proud of being able to keep his hormones under check. But now he couldn't but look at the wall in front of him and be hyper-aware of the fact Hitomi was changing clothes just on the other side of it.

His stupid mind was playing tricks on him.

* * *

Itsuka laughed awkwardly while observing her friend and Hitomi just standing there shyly as if it was the first time they met.

_'She/He looks hot!', _they were probably thinking something like that while observing how the other looked in the karate-gi. Their feelings were so transparent it was funny.

Unfortunately, being a third-wheel was quite uncomfortable.

"Okay, we should start!" She clapped with enthusiasm. That seemed to take them out of their reverie. "Let's stretch first, then learn some basic movements and finish with some sparring. What do you think?"

"If I spar with any of you guys, you'll kick my ass," commented Hitomi, flatly.

"That's the idea!" Hitomi glared at her. "There's not a better teacher than defeat!"

"It's fine, Shinso-san. We are j-just starting today, so don't worry," added Izuku.

"If you say so." Hitomi sighed and looked at her. "You are the 'senseis' right now."

"Yeah, I guess we are." Most of the time she was her father's right hand. So being the one in charge was always a great experience. "This is going to be fun!"

"Right. That sure didn't sound ominous at all..."

* * *

"Okay, that's it!" Itsuka exclaimed as they stopped today's session.

Hitomi took that as the sign to let herself fall on the mat.

She was exhausted. Practically all her body ached.

It wasn't _fun _at all.

"W-well d-done, Shinso-san," said Izuku, extending a hand to help her stand up again. He looked as handsome as always, while she was a sweaty mess.

"What part of that was 'well'? I was awful." She felt frustrated.

"That's expected," recognized Itsuka. "You can't just be perfect from the start. It's practicing which makes perfection."

"Does that includes you?" she asked Itsuka.

"Especially me." The girl blushed slightly but kept her smile. "I was a complete crybaby when I was a small kid. Always cried my heart out when I wasn't strong enough to do something. But I got better."

"And you?" She turned at Izuku.

"I, eh…" He seemed to want to say something, but his embarrassment was stopping him.

"If I'm not wrong Midoriya-kun ended up throwing up on his first day. So you made a nice job in comparison."

"Really?" She smirked and looked at Izuku, who looked away in shame.

"Yeah, just in the spot you were laying down a moment ago, I think," added Itsuka with amusement.

She immediately stepped aside and glared at the girl "You are evil." Then she looked at Izuku again. "Correction. You two are evil."

"E-EH?! Me t-too?!"

"Yes. You too..." She sighed. "I was naïve enough to expect you to go easy on me. But you two completely wiped the floor with me, just as I predicted."

"About that. Don't get angry with Midoriya-kun, okay? It's kind of my fault," Itsuka intervened

"It is...? How?"

"At first he had this really bad habit of getting his ass kicked for pulling his punches every time he sparred with me or another of the girls." Suddenly Itsuka's smile lost its friendliness. "So I had to _convince _him to stop with that nonsense and fight seriously."

Izuku shuddered at that, and she didn't blame him.

This friendly, energetic girl seriously was the devil.

* * *

"You knew this was going to happen, right?" she asked Izuku once they exited the dojo.

In front of her were the stupid stairs from before -which suddenly seemed twice as long- and she just didn't have the energy to climb them up.

"Y-yeah." Izuku nodded. "I had problems going up when I started too."

"Damn. It's going to take me forever..."

"I could just help you," Izuku mumbled. He didn't mean for her to hear him.

"What? Like a piggyback ride or something?" she said that with the only intention of making him blush. And yet...

"If y-you w-want…?" he asked, flustered but decided.

"What?"

She and her stupid mouth.

* * *

They looked ridiculous.

That was natural, with her being huge for a girl while Izuku was barely on the average height for a boy his age.

Add to that the close physical contact -the sparring didn't count, they were trying to beat the crap out of each other then-, and both of them were too flustered to say anything.

Fortunately, it didn't take that much for them to make it to the top.

So they sat on a nearby bench, to wait for the bus.

Managing to dispel her embarrassment, she re-started the conversion, "Hey Izuku. Can I ask you a favor?"

"A favor?" he repeated.

"Another one, I mean… Eh…" She frowned, as some obtrusive thoughts poked their ugly heads. "Now that I think about it, I'm constantly asking you for stuff, right? First to analyze my Quirk, then to help me to practice with it…"

"I would do that f-for anybody. And I was the one to ask you to use me to practice. You were reluctant about it at first, remember?"

"Yeah. But people usually don't go out of their way to help me as you did... Meanwhile, you had me bothering you all week and didn't complain even once." She appreciated it. But thinking about it, and knowing Izuku liked her, made her feel a knot in her stomach.

"You were not bothering me!" He was sincere... And that just showed how of a good-natured fool he was.

"Of course I was, even if you don't consider it as such." It made her uncomfortable, but it was the truth. "I can't imagine someone like you have that much free time to waste on me. It wouldn't surprise me if you neglected your club stuff or schoolwork to help me… Tell me I'm wrong." She wanted him to do it.

But he couldn't.

"I… I had a report about the Sports Festival I had to finish..." he recognized, averting his eyes for a moment. "But I d-did it at my home so it wasn't a problem. R-really!"

She sighed. What an amazing fool he was.

"Izuku, you told me about this place." She pointed in the dojo's direction. "And as devilish as Kendo is, in just one day she convinced me that training with her and her father can work for me."

"I would tell anyone who needed it about the dojo. It was nothing special."

"And do you give piggyback rides to anyone who needs them too?" she asked, in part as a jab, and part as a serious question. She wasn't sure how she would react if he answered _yes_.

"Of c-course not!" he answered immediately. "I m-mean, it's simple g-gentlemanship, but I wouldn't, eh..."

She decided to take him out of his misery and intervene, "Yeah, I got it. But anyway, it's fine. Forget what I said." And she prayed that he did. Even knowing he was too goddamn stubborn to do that.

"What favor did you want to ask me?" he asked, leaving his curiosity to take the steering wheel.

She closed her eyes and sighed.

So foolish...

"Just forget it. It's not that important."

"Please," he muttered, in a tone that broke through all her defenses like a battering ram against a house made of crystal.

Who was the fool again?

"I wanted to ask if I could join your club," she babbled, feeling like slapping herself after every syllable.

"Ah?" His eyes widened, and his expression turned incredulous but hopeful. "R-really?"

"Kinda." Was he doing it on purpose? She just couldn't THINK properly when he looked at her like that. Suddenly she felt like a criminal confessing all her bad deeds to an infuriatingly attractive detective. "As much as I want to transfer to the Hero Course, as part of the General Department I'm obligated to join a club. But I have not the time to waste on clubs aligned to my hobbies, nor the energy to take part in any competitive clubs if I seriously intend to join the Hero Course. Besides that, I don't want to impose my gloomy self on others if I can. And joining a club just to be a ghost member -which seems to be the only possible solution to my dilemma- is a thing I would hate to do."

"But you want to join m-my club…?" He and his stupid green eyes were making her head feel fuzzy.

"That's what you are going to say? I basically made a whole case of why YOU should NOT want me in your club!" In which kind of bizarre world she lived to get angry at someone who wanted to help her without expecting anything in exchange...?

"You want me _not_ to accept you?" he asked in confusion.

"Of course, I d-…" She covered her face with her hands, trying to reorganize her thoughts into something that made sense. "I would be okay, even if you said no. More than anything, I just..." She didn't want to say it. It was both too embarrassing and stupid to say it out loud.

"Y-yeah?"

"I don't want to feel like I'm just using you." There. Someone with a brainwashing Quirk admitting they didn't want to use someone for their own benefit.

What a stupid crazy world, indeed.

"I never saw it in that way," said Izuku. "I m-mean, I've helped a lot of people before and never expected anything from them beyond a simple _thanks_. And even without it, I was satisfied with just having helped." Izuku looked down, blushing furiously. "Shinso-san, I'm aware I've probably done m-more for you than for anybody else before. The thing is, um, I'm especially i-invested in you..."

"How?" She had to pat her own back for keeping her voice even and not stutter like the blushing idiot she was at the moment.

"Because I want you to succeed…" He looked at her again. His green burned with belief and warmth. "I believe you can be a hero. A great hero. And it f-frustrates me that I'm apparently the only one who notices. So I'll do anything in my power to give you a hand. It's that simple." For someone like her, it was overwhelming to be the target of such words. "And in a-any case… It's nice to have you around." And that was like the killing blow to her heart.

"I see." She must have looked like an idiot because Izuku relaxed after seeing her reaction.

"Can I a-ask you something?"

"Sure."

"If joining a club at all was so inconvenient for you, then why joining m-mine specifically?"

_'Because you were there,'_ she almost said. "Because if I had to join a club anyways, I at least wanted to join one where I could learn something. And in yours, I'm constantly doing that; it doesn't matter if we are discussing Quirks, training mine, or just talking about random stuff." That was the rational reason for joining the Quirk Research Club. Unfortunately. It caused the ugly knot in her stomach to appear again. "Additionally, you are also a really pleasant person to have around," she added in a whisper, and when Izuku smiled, the uncomfortable sensation disappeared.

* * *

Some minutes of pleasant silence passed until the bus arrived.

"So you are not coming?" asked Hitomi, noticing how he was still on the bench.

"No. I still h-have some errands to do," that was a white lie. After their conversation and finally recruiting a new member for his club, he was simply so happy that needed a moment alone to relax.

"Hmm. Okay, see you tomorrow, President." She smirked and gave him a mock salute.

"Ahaha. You know you'll be the c-club Vice-president, right, Shinso-san?"

"Oh." It seemed she had not realized. "Dammit." The bus' doors closed, and he laughed softly as it moved away.

"Hmm. For a moment I thought you were going to confess to her." He turned around in a panic, just to find Itsuka standing there in casual clothes.

"Eh?! S-since when-…?" The girl giggled while watching him stumble with his words.

"I've been by the stairs for a while already. You guys just didn't notice."

"Spying is rude, Kendo-san," he scolded her.

"I know. But you two had a really nice mood going on and I didn't want to interrupt." She took something out of her pocket and throw it at him. "Catch it!" When he looked at it, it was a cute-looking purse with the form of a kitty. "Shinso-chan left that in the fitting room." He felt incredulous for just a moment, before accepting the little thing was indeed one of Hitomi's belongings. "Give it back and you'll surely get some points with her."

"I don't k-know what you are talking about…"

"Come on, Midoriya-kun. I knew you had a thing for her since the first time you mentioned her."

He was left speechless for a moment, processing what had said one of the few people he could call a friend. "Am I that obvious?" She nodded.

"And you are lucky. She likes you too," added the girl with a smile.

"I'm n-not sure about that," he said, even when he had a goofy smile on his face.

Even though Hitomi seemed to regard him with affection, his inexperience in love made him especially careful about how to act. After all, he didn't want to be rash and assume his feelings were reciprocated only to discover it wasn't the case.

But if even Itsuka said something like that, maybe he actually had a chance.

"Fine." Itsuka sighed. "Take your time. Just don't wait too much to confess. You don't need to know someone for years to date them."

"Ah. I only met her this Monday."

"What?" The girl seemed surprised. "Really?" He nodded. "Damn. If you keep at the pace you are going you'll be married by the end of the year."

"D-don't be absurd!"

He ended up dreaming about Hitomi and him marrying that night.

* * *

**Okay! Izuku and Hitomi's last conversation in this chapter is quite special, both for its content and the story behind it.**

**You see, originally I was going to make Hitomi talk with Izuku about joining his club in the next chapter/day, but I realized that bringing such a topic at the last possible moment would be kind of rude and irresponsible for someone like her, so I moved the scene to this chapter.**

**But even then, originally the conversation was going to be pretty straight forwards.**

_**Hitomi: Hey, maybe I'll be a bother, but can I join your club? **_

_**Izuku: O-OF COURSE!**_

**Something like that. But it felt wrong. And when I thought deeply about it, I understood the reason. **

**It was something that has been bothering me for quite a while: The possibility that -without being that my intention- I wrote Hitomi taking advantage of Izuku because of his usefulness.**

**That's not what I wanted, obviously, and I couldn't just ignore or avoid the feeling I was messing up. So the only solution was to simply address the topic as a part of the plot, which resulted in the scene in the way it is now. **

**And I like it better like this. After all, it's a fact that when Hitomi first met Izuku, she only expected someone to give her some tips about her Quirk. She never thought Izuku would become her friend and that she'd start liking him.**

**It was something that simply happened. And when she realized how much she was depending on him -while in the past she had been a really independent person-, it made her feel like if she was doing something wrong to Izuku. But fortunately, now that problem is solved.**

**Anyway, leave your reviews, follow and favorite!**

**And join my discord server if you want!**

* * *

**Hitomi: Hmm, being your "right hand" could be interesting?**

**Izuku: Do you think so?**

_**Next chapter: Test by fire**__** \- Vice-president´s duties**_

**Hitomi: It's a good excuse to be stuck to you all day if I want to.**


	12. Test by fire

**To 22th November, 2020.**

**_Reviews: 53_**

**_Favorite: 203_**

**_Followers: 260_**

**_Views:_**** 19245**

**I opened a Discord server. If you want to join the link is:**

**discord DOT gg SLASH CvQvGQY**

**(…)**

**Chapter 10: Test by fire**

**(...)**

**Saturday, May 16th**

Filling a document to join a club required two signatures: The first one from the new member, of course, and the other from the club advisor.

Hitomi hadn't considered as important to ask Izuku who the advisor of his club was. But now that they were in front of the headmaster's office, she understood that was a mistake.

Izuku should have mentioned that _little _detail...

"Come in, come in!" answered a friendly low-pitched voice from the inside of the room, after Izuku knocked.

The door opened by itself, and she saw the only occupant of the office: A white Quirked rat-like creature sitting by the desk.

It was probably the animal (?) with most influence in the country, if not the planet; UA Headmaster, Nezu.

"Good morning, Nezu-san!" Izuku bowed and she imitated him, not sure of what would be the less rude course of action in this situation; staring at the headmaster openly or averting her eyes from his.

If it weren't for the scar on his eye -and its implications- he would look as harmless as a cereal mascot. Add to that his position on the school, and the fact he was like ten times smarter than Izuku and her combined, and Nezu was quite a frightening existence.

"Good morning to you too, Midoriya-kun! Do you have the report ready?"

"Yeah!" He took an absurdly thick folder out of his bag and put it over the desk.

"Perfect. And you must be Hitomi Shinso from class 1-C." She tried not to show her surprise that the headmaster even knew who she was... It wouldn't be surprising if he knew the name of all UA students.

"Yes, sir."

"So what motive brings you today to my office?"

Izuku put the club document over the desk. "Shinso-san wishes to join the Quirk Research Club, headmaster. And I consider she would make a great addition." Izuku's voice was clear, without any sign of doubts or nervousness. She already knew Izuku had this more confident side, but in this kind of situation, it felt a bit off for some reason.

"Hmm." Nezu send a thoughtful gaze in her direction and then turned at Izuku again. "Would you bet your permanence on the academy on that, Midoriya-kun?" She flinched at the calmness of his tone despite the outrageous thing he had said.

'_What the fuck...?' _

"Yes!" answered Midoriya, as confident as before.

'_WHAT THE FUCK?!' _

The headmaster dived his paw in ink and imprinted it over the space for his signature. Then put the school stamp over it, and saved the document on his desk cabinet. "Done. Something else?"

"No. That would be everything. Thanks, Nezu-san." Izuku smiled brightly, while she was still trying to process the situation and failing to do so.

"Oh, almost forgot, do you think you could give me a little presentation of your report right now?"

"Ah, of course!" he said and send a look at her. "But could you give me just a moment, please, Nezu-san?" The headmaster nodded and they exited the room.

Just the moment the door closed: "What the heck was that?" she asked, keeping her voice the lowest possible.

"Eh, what about it?"

"He threatened to expel you."

"A-Ah, that. Nezu-san does it all the time," he explained, as if it was normal.

"He does?"

"Yeah, he is just joking... I think."

"Okay, I'm very confused right now." She massaged her temple, feeling the start of a headache. "First, why do you call the headmaster by his name like that? It makes you sound as if you were his chess pal or something."

"But I am," Izuku answered, no sign of lying.

Things were getting more absurd by the second.

"And how did that exactly happened?"

"_How?_ I mean, it's natural, considering that he… Oh." He blinked in realization, and his expression turned nervous. "D-did I mention he is my mentor? Like, he was the p-person that recommended me."

And there it was, a headache.

"No, you didn't," she grunted, glaring at him.

"Ahaha, s-sorry." He lifted his palms in sign of surrender. "I kinda forgot about it." Izuku took something out his pocket. "As an apology, I t-think you should take this."

The object was an All Might´s keychain, which hold a silver key on it.

"What is this?" She took it and looked at it with curiosity.

"It's the club´s key." He smiled. "Like I said yesterday, now y-you are the Vice-President. So you should have your own key, just in c-case you need it." He shrugged, as if trying to pass the situation as something of little importance.

But Hitomi knew that was hardly the case.

Izuku himself say it, his club was an important part of his life. So giving her a key meant a lot.

"Okay. I'll take care of it," she said, while securing it to her school-bag.

"Perfect! See you t-tomorrow, Shinso-san!" He tried to go back to the Headmaster office, but she stopped him.

"Wait, am I not supposed to be there too?"

"Uh?" He seemed not to comprehend what she was saying.

"I'm your _right-hand_ now. So I should be there, right...?" Even if the only thing she could do for now was to give him moral support.

Izuku opened his eyes wide and shook his head desperately. "N-NO, YOU CAN'T!"

"Why?" She lifted an eyebrow.

"Ah… See, t-the report I made is about the Sports Festival. And you t-took part of it, so it wouldn't be, um, _professional _if you were in the same room w-while I present it..."

She processed her explanation, and understood from where he was coming from. However...

"You are just too embarrassed about the things you are going to say about me, aren't you?"

"P-pretty much," he nodded.

"Okay. Then I'll spare you the suffering, and just wait for you on the club room."

"You don't need to wait for me, Shinso-san," he spoke softly.

"I know. I just want to. Don't forget you are not only _my_ President but also _my_ guinea pig."

Hitomi smirked, enjoying not only Izuku's reaction, but the fact he didn't negate what she had said.

**(…)**

When Hitomi walked into the hallway where the club room was, she saw someone standing in front of the door. Like the previous times, it was someone from Class 1-A. A tall guy with black hair and glasses.

Her old instincts were telling her to turn around and go away before the guy noticed her. But she didn't.

When she joined the club she made a compromise, so she intended to follow her duties properly. Or at least try to do so.

"Hey, are you looking for Midoriya?" she asked as she approached him.

The guy looked at her lazily. "Yeah. My name is Tenya Iida... It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Hitomi Shinso. Pleasure to make your acquaintance. I'm the club´s Vice-President," she explained, as she opened the door. "Izuku is busy right now, but you can wait for him inside if you want. Who knows? Maybe I'll be able to help you before he comes back."

"Okay." He followed her inside dragging his feet.

Their short exchange seemed normal, but she knew there was something weird about the guy... Besides his robot-like behavior, which was natural in him.

Based on what she remembered about him from the Sports Festival, Tenya was an earnest person; the kind that puts a lot energy in all he does, but now he seemed unnaturally apathic and somewhat nervous.

"Take a seat. Do you want tea?" The guy mumbled a _yes, _and she approached the teapot. It was already filled. "Lucky you. Midoriya prepared some tea before he left." She sat opposite to him and served him a cup. But the guy seemed more interested on staring at the table with a thoughtful expression instead of actually drinking his tea. "So, what do you need help with?"

Tenya didn't answer for a couple of seconds as if looking for the exact words to use. "I would like to know about the Hero Killer´s weaknesses."

That simple phrase confirmed all the red alarms she was having about him.

She stared at Tenya, waiting for him to elaborate in his request, but when he remained silent despite the drops of sweat sliding down his nervous face, she had to ask, "Why?"

"It's for schoolwork," he answered, his expression more rigid than before. He was possibly the worst liar she had seen since Izuku.

_So that's how it's going to be._

"All right. Wait a sec." She stood up and walked to the shelf with Izuku´s analysis notebooks.

If Izuku were here, he would be able to find the right one immediately. Fortunately, for convenience´s sake, he added an index on each book, so it only take her a couple of minutes to find the one with the Hero Killer´s info.

She returned to her seat and extended the book to Tenya. "Here it is."

Then she saw it; that hope on his eyes mixed with something dark as he stared at the notebook. He hungered for it and its content. He needed it.

Sadly for him, he was treating with her.

"NOT." She retracted her hand, his hand only grasping the air. He seemed confused for a moment, and that only annoyed her further. "Tsk. Really? Do you believe me that stupid?"

"W-what?"

"I'm not a walking hero encyclopedia like Izuku but I still watch the TV. The day of the Sports Festival, the pro-hero Ingenium got attacked by the Hero Killer on Hosu." Tenya flinched. "And now, only two days before the Hero Course students start their internships, _you_ -Ingenium´s brother- are here asking me about how to defeat that guy. I'm not a genius, but I still have a goddamn brain to put the pieces together."

"N-no, you are wrong! Like I said-"

"Was Ingenium that weak?" she asked out of the sudden, interrupting Tenya.

"What?" he uttered, forcing himself to suppress the anger her words had raised on him.

"I asked, if _YOU_ think your brother was that weak?"

The guy stood up. "How you dare?! My brother is one of the strongest and bravest heroes there are!"

"Then, what makes you think you can deal with a villain he couldn't?" It was an easy question. One she knew he wouldn't be able to answer. "Do you consider yourself that superior to him? Or was he simply that weak?"

He backed up, shock in his face. "N-no! That's not it! I just-!"

"You just wanted to get vengeance." She snorted in derision.

"No! It's justice! I just wanted to be like Tensei, worthy of the name _Ingenium!_ But how can I be, if I let the man who almost killed him roam free without punishment?!"

"It's not your problem."

"Of course it is! Aren't you listening?! The Hero Killer-!"

"It's a villain, and you are not a pro-hero, but a student. So no, is NOT your problem!" she hissed. "You don't have the experience to go against a monster like him and survive. Or what, do you think your brother will be proud of your braveness if you end up in a morgue for trying to avenge him?!" Tenya paled. "You don't even have a hero license, for god's sake, so you would be breaking the law. Or are you just lying to me, and that's actually the kind of hero you want to be?"

Left speechless, Tenya´s anger died down and he returned to his seat. His head was on his hands, and a pained expression on his face, as if he was about to cry not knowing what else to do.

He was like a puppet with its strings cut.

And she didn't like it, not even one bit. Someone in that state of mind was dangerous. Unpredictable. He could get himself or someone else killed during his internship if she just left him go like that.

Even if she did the right thing by scolding him. Now it was the time to make some amends.

So she opened the notebook on the Hero Killer´s analysis.

"Don't fight him alone," she muttered and Tenya looked up at her. "That's what the notebook says. If you find the Hero Killer and you are by yourself, escape immediately. Only fight him if you are accompanied by two or more capable people." Before Tenya could say anything, she continued, "The Hero Killer has been operating for at least a decade, and has already about two dozen of confirmed kills under his sleeve. There's nothing known for sure about his identity or his Quirk, but Izuku was able to make a theory about the latter." She took a moment to re-read the next part, trying to find the way to make it sound a bit less creepy. "According to the _forms_ of the _bodies´_ injuries, and the_ rests_ of steel found on them, the Hero Killer used different types of cutting weapons like knives, daggers, and swords to _finish_ his victims."

"H-he didn't use his Quirk...?" Tenya was paler than before.

"Not directly. Izuku theorize the Hero Killer possess some kind of dishabilitating Quirk?"

"_Dishabilitating?"_

"Like a paralysis Quirk, for example. That would explain how he managed to kill so many people with only two or three hits."

"He did w-what?!" Tenya seemed horrified. It was understandable. By the details on the notebook, this villain was a complete monster.

"Yeah. You see, his Modus Operandi is something like this: First, he stalks his prey, waiting for them to be alone and in an isolated place like an alley. Then he attacks with the only purpose of cutting his opponent once. But nothing big, only a small shallow cut is enough. Because it's through this one that he somehow activates his Quirk. Then, once his opponent is completely defenseless, he can strike easily to their vitals, dealing fatal damage."

"And that's it...?" Tenya asked, shuddering and grinding his teeth in both fear and rage respectively. "That's what he did to my brother? Used a cheap tactic like that to spit on all his years of experience saving innocents and fighting villains, only to back-stab him and leave him to bleed out on the street like an animal!"

"I know, it's awful. But don't forget he is a villain. Cheap tactics or not, a villain doesn't manage to kill so many heroes without being caught just by being lucky. He must be strong. So even knowing what he may try to do, you should avoid him."

Tenya calmed, and looked at her in confusion.

"Wait. Why are you helping me?" he asked. "You said the truth before! As much as it pains me, what I intended to do was wrong! I left my anger control me. So why are you telling me all this now?"

That was a complicated question with an easy answer.

"Because you want to be a hero." He looked even more confused, so she decided to elaborate. "Which means, you are an idiot." _Just like me_. "So I know that despite my warnings, even if it is only by accident, you're still going to end up crossing paths with the Hero Killer anyway... Or am I wrong?"

Tenya shook his head, ashamed, "I'll intern with the pro-hero Manual, on Hosu. So it could happen."

"It will happen," she predicted, with an unimpressed expression. "You guys from Class 1-A were attacked by villains during your first week. You are cursed. So PLEASE use the info I gave you however you can to keep your angular head still stuck to your body."

"I w-will, ma'am!" exclaimed the guy, looking a bit more animated. _That's better._

"Really. Don't make me regret this." Especially because she would feel like crap if the guy actually died.

But she wasn't too worried. Idiots like him _-them-_ were hard to kill.

**(…)**

Meanwhile, on the Headmaster's office.

"Well. I think that's enough for today, Midoriya-kun. An amazing job like always," said the tiny white creature.

"Thanks, Nezu-san!" answered Izuku with a smile.

"You can leave. Have a very nice weekend."

"The same! See you next week!" The boy bowed and left the room.

Nezu smiled, feeling both proud and amused.

The boy´s mind was incredible, and considering his recommendation of transferring Hitomi Shinso to the Hero Course, he was also amazing at pinpointing a talent that could be developed for good.

He would be a perfect replacement in the future.

But about the present...

"So what do you think? Is it Hitomi Shinso the more deserving of being transferred to the Hero Course, Aizawa-kun?"

Suddenly, the curtains moved and the shaggy-looking teacher and pro-hero, Eraserhead, appeared from behind them.

He had been in there the whole time, but none of students had realized.

"I don't think is logical to take a decision like that so fast, Headmaster."

"Is that everything, Aizawa-kun? I feel you want to say more."

The underground hero narrowed his eyes. "Is that boy´s judgment really that reliable, Headmaster? The way I look at it, he is only blindly supporting his club-mate -someone he appreciates. But he is not being objective."

The headmaster giggled at Eraserhead's response. "Oh, Aizawa-kun, being passionate about his duties doesn't make Midoriya-kun less objective than you or me. His explanation and his report made clear which are Hitomi Shinso´s pros and cons. So the question remains, is it she or not?"

The tired teacher sighed. "I guess we'll know it soon."

**(…)**

**Maybe some of you don't know, but I also write some stuff about Harry Potter. So I had this bizarre sensation on the last scene about Nezu and Aizawa being like the parallel of Dumbledore and Snape when they are conspiring about random shit. It was a really funny feeling,**

**In any case, thats it for today. Hope you liked!**

**(…)**

**Hitomi: If you are having fun, time past faster. Is that right?**

**Izuku: It's relative, I suppose. It d-depends on your perception.**

_**Next Chapter - Time flies. **__**Especially when you are having fun. **_

**Hitomi: Izuku, help me skip this whole week.**


	13. Announce

This is to announce you, that I created a P-a-t-r-e-o-n very recently. And it will follow the model of early access. So if you support me you'll be able to read the new updates of my stories sooner than anyone else.

If you can't do that, it's no problem, you would still be able to read my content like normal. You just need to wait a week for me to made the updates public.

My name on there is ErinTesden


	14. Time Flies

I created a discord server. The link is:

Discord DOT gg SLASH CvQvGQY

* * *

**Chapter 11 - Time Flies.**

* * *

**Sunday, May 17th**

Hitomi was resting in her room, when she took her phone and searched for the new addition to her contacts: _'Smol Greenie '_.

**-****You****: u there?**

**-****Smol Greenie****: Shinso-san?**

**-****You****: who else**

**-****You****: or did u get another cute girl number recently**

She truly expected he didn't.

**-****Smol Greenie****: fjirfrqwqk**

**-****Smol Greenie****: no**

Good to know.

**-****You****: how sad**

**-****Smol Greenie****: …**

She smiled, getting an unstoppable desire of sending him a photo.

"Let's start light. Hey, Mio! Smile." She took the little cat a photo and snorted at the offended look the feline gave her. "There you go."

_**-You sent to Smol Greenie**_

**-****Smol Greenie****: Is that your cat?**

**-****Smol Greenie****: Mio, was it?**

**-****You****: ye**

**-****Smol Greenie****: He looks really cute!**

**-****You****: he is the devil incarnated**

**-****Smol Greenie****: What?**

**-****You****: satans pet**

Putting her life in the line, she took a second picture.

_**-You sent to Smol Greenie**_

**-****You****: see his annoyed expression**

**-****You****: if I keep bothering him he will scratch my eyes out**

**-****You****: but despite that I love him**

**-****Smol Greenie****: Eh?**

**-****Smol Greenie****: I don't get it.**

**-****You****: you don't really want to**

**-****You****: behind that cute appearance there's a little furry bastard who hates strangers even more than mondays**

**-****Smol Greenie****: Aren't all animals like that?**

**-****Smol Greenie****: Territorial, I mean.**

**-****You****: NO THEY ARENT**

**-****You****: mostly**

**-****You****: dogs are a lot more friendly**

**-****You****: but I'm a cat person so here I am wallowing in my misery**

**-****You****: also he is adorable as heck so it makes up for it**

**-****Smol Greenie****: Shinso-san, I don't want to sound weird but**

**-****Smol Greenie****: you feel a lot different on messages.**

It was the same with him. Without hearing his stuttering, it almost felt as if she was talking with a different person.

"Let's raise the bets." She took a photo of herself.

She had took a nap a while ago, so her clothes were wrinkled and her hair looked messier than normal.

_**-You sent to Smol Greenie**_

**-****You****: looking good?**

**-****Smol Greenie****: rqviojmvcnkceov**

**-****You****: good to know**

**(…)**

**Monday, May 18th**

The week started with Izuku giving her a surprise.

"Let me understand this. You got us an _internship_." She was incredulous but hopeful, as they walked to the building where it would take place.

"Um, the closest to that we could get as students from the General Department."

Technically it was a conference about what truly meant to work as a pro-hero, so it didn't involve anything practical. But hearing the experiences and tips about heroics straight from the pro-heroes themselves would be neat too.

When they arrived at the conference room she saw a huge banner hanging over the entrance. It said _'Welcome heroes of tomorrow!'_ and it had some happy cat faces around, for some reason.

"Hey, Midoriya, why−?" Her words got stuck in her throat as she walked inside and saw _**them**_ just standing by the podium, surrounded by fans.

The Wild, Wild Pussycats.

Without saying a word, Hitomi took Izuku by his collar and pulled him outside. "S-Shinso-san?"

She covered her face with her hands, breathed deeply, and… It was a waste of time because she wasn't going to get calm. "Izuku, why the heck didn't you tell me the Pussycats were participating?!" she hissed.

"I t-thought you liked them…" He seemed confused.

"_Right._ So just because I said I´m a cat person, you assumed I like them?"

"Do you?"

Her eye twitched. "Yes, I do. Actually, I have one dakimakura of Tiger."

"R-really?!"

"Obviously NOT..." She had one of each Pussycat. "But yeah, I am a huge fan." She smirked. "I'll forgive you for not telling me about this before handed if you get me some autographs."

Izuku laughed softly. "Deal."

**(…)**

**Tuesday, May 19th**

They were in the club-room trying a certain aspect of her Quirk.

_Experiment No.1._

"[Ur green hair´s fluffy like sheep´s wool]," she said in her better English.

"Wait, what−?" By Izuku´s reaction, her pronunciation was pretty awful. And yet, she felt her Quirk taking hold of him.

"Success." She inclined towards him and lifted her right arm. "[Let´s high-five]."

They did and Izuku went back to normal.

He immediately took his notebook and wrote the results. "Okay. Now we know you can also activate your Quirk and give orders while speaking in other languages. So let's go with the next one!"

She nodded and took a piece of paper in which she had written two sentences in Spanish.

_Experiment No.2._

"[Tu ser demasiado apuesto para tu propio bien]."

"What did you−?" Just like before, her Quirk activated with no trouble.

"Perfect. Now, [haz salto hacia atras]." She waited for Izuku to follow her order, but he didn't move at all. "[Salto hacia atrás?]" she repeated, but it was the same.

The moment she deactivated her Quirk, Izuku smiled. "It didn't work, right?"

She narrowed her eyes. "You knew it wouldn't… Why?"

"Because English is the only foreign language I speak and understand," he explained. "If my theory is right, it doesn't really matter the language you use to trigger your Quirk. As long as your target answers in any way, it'll work… Actually, I think you could even babble nonsense or say made-up words and it would work be the same. However, it's different while giving orders; when ordering someone to do something, you need to speak in a language the brainwashed person can understand, or they won't do it."

"Hmm. That explains it. Usually, it would be quite easy to make someone do a back-flip using my Quirk."

"So that was what you asked me to do." He smiled lightly, but his expression turned curious. "Shinso-san, what did you say to brainwash me?"

She slowly smirked and made herself comfortable on the couch. "It's-a-secret."

**(…)**

**Wednesday, May 20th**

The green-haired boy sat on the sofa. In her own experience, it was a really confortable seat. Perfect for what they were about to try.

_Experiment No.3._

"Do you really think this is going to work?" Hitomi asked. Knowing she would feel like an idiot for not thinking about this before, if it really worked.

"It should." He nodded. "I mean, you can brainwash people into doing anything that doesn't requires much brain activity. So doing the opposite, and making it _stop_, should be easy... In t-theory at least."

"Okay, let's try, then. Are you ready?"

"Yes−!"

She got control over Izuku and gave her order. "Fall asleep."

Suddenly, she felt this weird pulling, as if Izuku were slipping off her control. However, her order seemed to have been effective. He wasn't awake anymore.

"Nice, it worked. Can you wake up again?"

He didn't move, so it was a fact her brainwashing had been nulled the moment he stopped being fully conscious. "Interesting."

She moved closer to him, intending to wake him up. But stopped at the last moment, after seeing how peaceful his expression was.

Before Hitomi could reign herself she had already taken a photo of his sleeping face.

She truly didn't want to wake him up.

"He has been working hard all week. There shouldn't be any problem in letting him rest for a while. I'm just caring for my _sempai's_ wellbeing, nothing else," she said, trying with poor results to auto-convince herself she wasn't being creepy. "Ah, whatever. Let's create a distraction." She took a permanent marker out of her bag.

It was time for an art attack.

**(…)**

_Experiment No.4._

This time, it involved them being on different places while talking through their cellphones.

"_**Okay, can you hear me?**_" asked Izuku.

"Loud and clear."

"**Okay! Now try to use your Quirk on me.**"

"Actually, I´m already doing it, and it's not working."

"_**R-really?**_"

"Yeah." She sighed. "It's weird. That had never happened."

"_**Have you tried using your Quirk over the phone before?**_"

"No. Why would I?"

"_**That should explain it then.**_**"**

"So I can only use my Quirk in person?" That was weird.

"_**That's not quite the problem, I think. But the phone in itself**_."

"Ah." She realized the obviousness. "The electrical signals are messing with my Quirk, right?"

"_**Exactly! I doubt your Quirk can work under any kind of electronic alteration to your voice. The subliminal undertones that allow you to brainwash people are simply lost in the process.**_"

"Is that a bad thing? I mean, beyond not being able to brainwash people over the phone -which I can't imagine myself doing, anyway."

"_**Hmm. Kinda. I had thought about some possible support items for you that were electronic in nature, so I guess those are out now. **_

"Right. That sucks." She had imagined herself carrying a megaphone around while in her hero persona, but that wasn't a possibility anymore.

"_**It's fine. I'll ask my friend in the Support Department if she can alter the designs to make them work along with your Quirk. If it's her, it should be possible.**_"

"I see. You should introduce me to that _friend_ of yours soon, though. I´m almost jealous." Despite the sarcasm in her voice, she actually kind of was.

"_**E-eh?!**_"

"Did I mention your voice sounds really cool over the phone?"

He started to mumble intelligibly on the other side of the line. "_**Um, y-you sound n-nice too,**_" he said out loud, "_**I mean, y-you always do, really. Your voice is just so…**_"

She laughed softly, blushing slightly. "You said you were in your classroom, right? I want to see what expression you are doing."

"_**Wait, d-don't come here!**_"

"Too late!"

**(…)**

Later that day…

She was in her room, watching TV, when they announced something pretty interesting on the news.

The Hero Killer -Stain- has been captured.

The official statement was that Endeavor along with this old hero called Gran Torino were the ones who did it. However, she doubted the veracity of that affirmation, noticing in the footage the presence of three boys she knew and probably shouldn't be there.

The first one was Todoroki, the second one was that boy with spikey red hair that lost against him during the Sports Festival. And finally, of course, Tenya.

So he did it, after all.

She smirked. "That idiot now owns me one."

**(…)**

**Thursday, May 21th**

"I've been looking for pro-heroes that Shinsou-san could take as an example to follow and I think Eraserhead is probably the best option," said Izuku.

"Is he?" She only knew about the scruffy-looking teacher's existence from the Sports Festival, which made sense she supposed, with him being an _underground _hero. "Because I can't find any similarities between us... Besides the eye-bags, at least."

Izuku let out a small laugh. "W-well, to put it simply, Eraserhead uses his Quirk to force villains to his level and then beats them making use of martial arts and hit-and-run tactics. On the other side, you can defeat your opponents automatically by using your Quirk."

"Doesn't that make us the complete opposite?"

"Not really. Both of you depend on the surprise factor to defeat villains, but while is moderately important for Eraserhead, in your case is absolutely indispensable."

She thought deeply about the point he was trying to make. "Because if I can't trick people to control them with my Quirk, then I'm left defenseless."

"Exactly." Izuku nodded. "But with appropriate training and gear that won't be a problem at all, just like in Eraserhead's case."

"So you want me to get a scarf-thingy as the one he uses?"

"Well, a capture-weapon would be perfect for restriction purposes, but any kind of gear that gives you an advantage would be fine."

"Anything?" He was being highly unspecific.

"Yeah, I have a whole notebook full of potential support items from, um, when I wanted to be a hero. It is in my house but I can bring it one of these days if you want to."

"If you are sure...?" Such a notebook sure was important to Izuku, even if he was being carefree about it.

"Yeah, you could give it a better use than me."

She frowned slightly, but let it be. "So I need to get as many weapons and gadgets as I can, then?"

"Well, not exactly. We need to pick up ones that would synergy with what you're learning with Kendo-sensei."

"That sounds harder than you are making it sound."

"Hmm, yes a no. It's a process. As you develop your own fighting style, it should be easy for you to determine what kind of gear you need. So don't worry too much for now."

"If you say so." She really had never thought about learning to use weapons before… Damn, before she got stomped on the Sports Festival she had not even seen the point of learning how to _fight_. And yet, this image of her wrapping Izuku with a capture-weapon, leaving him completely defenseless, floated suddenly in her mind. And she liked it, "You know, I think I should get one of those scarf-things, after all."

**(…)**

**Friday, May 22th**

Training with Itsuka was tiring but fun.

And the part she hated -_and loved_\- the most, were the sparring sessions.

Specifically, the ones against Izuku.

To put it simply, despite being a person that hated defeat and found it frustrating, she was trying to learn from those experiences. The problem was that when Izuku was involved… She didn't mind losing that much.

And she usually lost a lot.

So she was apparently becoming a masochist. That wasn't a nice thought at all.

Besides, she saw herself as more belonging to the S-side of the spectrum… And that wasn't something she wanted to think about right now either.

"Okay!" exclaims Itsuka. "Take a rest, Midoriya-kun. I´ll spar with Shinso-chan for the time remaining." She frowned against her will, and Itsuka noticed. "It's something the matter?"

"No, Itsuka-_sensei_. Everything is_ totally_ fine."

"Is that so?" Itsuka looked annoyingly smug about it. "Well then, let's start!" then she added in a quiet voice: "But if you don't fulfill my expectations, all the next week you'll have to spar with me, and only with me."

She looked at Itsuka with mock contempt. "You are evil."

And the girl had the guts to smile innocently.

**(…)**

**Saturday, May 23th**

It had been a normal day for Hitomi. But that normalcy was interrupted just as her classes finished.

"_**Student Hitomi Shinso, you are required in the Headmaster Office. Please come as soon as you can.**_"

Immediately her classmates started to murmur, trying to guess why she was being called.

She wondered if she should feel glad that none of them were making weird theories about her getting herself expelled as they did at the start of the school year.

She shrugged and made her way to the office.

Maybe it was something about the club -_her club_, she had to remind herself.

There was _another possibility_, but she didn't want to get her hopes up just to be disappointed.

"Please enter," said the headmaster, after she knocked on his door.

But when she entered she saw that another person was inside.

It was an unkempt-looking guy, with a tired and slightly annoyed expression. If she were told, he was a distant cousin of her father or something, she would believe so. However, she already knew the man´s identity.

He was Class 1-A´s homeroom teacher, Shota Aizawa, aka. Eraserhead.

She tried to keep her expression even and stop overthinking about what his presence there meant. "Hi, Headmaster."

"Good day, Shinso-san. Could you take a seat?" Coming from the headmaster, it didn't really feel like a question. "Perfect. First, than anything, let's make something clear. You took part in the Sports Festival, so I'm not wrong in assuming you wish to join the hero course, right?"

"You aren't. I want to be a hero," she saw something change in Eraserhead´s expression, but he still didn't say anything, and just kept staring at her. It would be unnerving if she wasn't so used to people doing that.

"Perfect! Because you see, your club-mate recommended you as one of the students with the most potential and deserving to get transferred to the hero course. And I believe his assessment is right!"

She suddenly felt warm and a bit dizzy.

It couldn't be true, right? For her to reach her goal, so suddenly…

Was she dreaming?

"I see," she mumbled, and both educators probably saw through her facade, but she couldn't care less at the moment.

"Of course, even as the headmaster, such decision ultimately falls on the teachers themselves. And it seems Aizawa-kun has some words for you about that."

She looked at the dark-haired man, and he simply blinked.

Okay, he was actually alive and wasn't a statue or a manikin. That was good.

"Hitomi Shinso…" Eraserhead spoke slowly and then paused. She wasn't sure if he was trying to be dramatic or if he was just lazy even while speaking. He truly was reminding her of her father. "I´m against you being transferred."

Suddenly the world seemed colder and greyer.

She didn't want to say anything, just walk away from the room. But she needed to ask. "Why?"

"As much potential as your Quirk has, it means nothing if that's the only thing you have going." His words were blunt. He said what he truly believed and couldn't care less about her feelings, because his words were the cold hard truth. "Heroes who are one-trick ponies perish quickly. So I refuse to have them in my class. And that's exactly what I saw in the Sports Festival: Someone fully dependent on her Quirk, and completely useless once it couldn't use it. There were no signs of hard work, strength, or strategy in your actions. They were just like a thrown of the dice, expecting the best. Someone like that can't be on the Hero Course."

"Oh." That's the only thing she managed to say.

She knew the man´s accusations weren't wrong, but they still hurt.

Having no right to refute what was basically the truth, she just nodded, stood up from her seat, and moved towards the door.

"That´s it?" Eraserhead interrupted her. There was surprise in his tone, but mostly just disappointment.

"What?" She turned to look at him in confusion.

"Usually, in this kind of situation, any other student would try to excuse themselves and say they will become better. They don't accept so easily that their transference was rejected and just walk away."

She gawked. The man´s comment was so utterly ridiculous to her, that her thoughts escape her mouth and she did a very bad job at hiding her annoyance. "What? Do you want me to beg? Because I won´t."

Eraserhead´s eyes narrowed dangerously. "Elaborate."

On any other day, that would be the moment when she would shut her trap, say _sorry, _and disappear. But maybe she was feeling especially insolent that day because she actually answered. "Excuse me for my rudeness, _sensei_. But you didn't say anything I didn't know already." That was obviously like throwing gasoline on the fire, but she wasn't going to stop there. "Unlike the idiot you probably think I am, I actually learn from my mistakes and know when to cut my losses." She obviously didn't, or she wouldn't be talking back! "So if you think I'm just giving up, let me correct that misunderstanding right now. I may be a pragmatic person, but I'm also quite stubborn. So if I can't get into your class this year, there's no problem. I still have the next two years to try. Besides, yours is not the only hero class in this school, nor it´s UA´s Hero Course the only one in the country." She sent an apologetic glance at the headmaster, who for some bizarre reason couldn't look more amused. "So believe me, I'm taking your assessment _very_ seriously, but I have not the time to beg or make excuses for my shortcomings. I prefer to speak with my actions… So _Sensei._ Headmaster. Goodbye."

She turned around again, intent on leaving the room for a goddamn time before she actually got herself expelled -assuming she wasn't already-, but then she heard a weird rough noise behind her... It _almost_ sounded like laughing.

And when she looked over her shoulders, she saw Eraserhead smiling…

In a really creepy way, but smiling in any case.

"Your potential isn't zero. What I meant to say was that you aren't ready to be transferred, _right now_, you cheeky brat. "

_'What?' _

"No. You didn't." The way he expressed himself was quite straightforward. It didn't let any doubts about what he thought about her.

That he didn't _want_ her in his class.

As if knowing what she was thinking, he added with a serious expression, "I was blunt on purpose. It was just a logical ruse to learn the kind of person you were. All I said were comments the headmaster already brought to Midoriya during his presentation last week."

"I was a lot nicer, though," added Nezu.

"According to that _problem child_, not only he is helping you with your Quirk, but you also started karate lessons in Kendo´s dojo, right?" She nodded, not sure where this was going. "I know him. He is a formidable fighter and an excellent teacher... I suppose you haven't a proper schedule for your classes?"

"Not yet."

"Well, you should. It's a fact that if you were to get transferred to the Hero Course right now, you would be at a huge disadvantage compared to your peers, so it´s good that you are already taking the necessary steps to solve that. However, while it would serve as a solid base, I don't think karate by itself is a style that would suit you. After all, with a Quirk like yours, you would be forced to serve as an underground hero, like it was my case."

"Yes, I know. But what´s your point?" All that dancing around the bush was making her nervous.

"Don't be impatient, kid…" He scolded her. "Listen, I have currently about two hours available after classes the days Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, which we could use to help you increase your fighting prowess and technique to an adequate level for a hero student."

Her facade finally broke and she stared at the teacher, totally flabbergasted. "You want to train me?"

Eraserhead´s expression got stern. "Don't misunderstand it. Your transference to the Hero Course hasn't been approved yet… That will depend totally on your actions from now on. I´ll train you, indeed, but just as long as you show promise. So don't disappoint me."

She couldn't quite believe him. Not after his _ruse_. But when she looked at his eyes, she knew the man wasn't lying or trying to trick her again.

"I won´t."

She had to pinch herself to make sure.

Her dream wasn't just a dream anymore, but a possibility.

**(…)**

Izuku didn't consider himself a stickler for the rules, but he still tried not to break them if he could.

Right now, he couldn't.

At first, he had intended to check on Mei -he did every once in a while to stop her from dying of sleep deprivation-, but then he heard some people gossiping about Nezu calling Hitomi to speak with her.

After that, he didn't waste a second and ran like a madman towards the headmaster´s office.

However, he had to stop when he saw a familiar girl with indigo hair just sitting on a bench outside the main building.

As he got closer, he felt nervous. She looked distracted, her eyes fixed on the ground. And he couldn't but fear the worst.

Sighing, he sat by her side. "A-are you fine, Shinso-san?"

She lifted her head slowly to look at him. "Izuku." He expected to find distress or disappointment in her expression, but instead, he found surprise. Genuine and innocent surprise, as someone who isn't sure if they are asleep or awake. "Eraserhead said he is going to train me." Soon enough, that surprise went away and gave place to something more powerful and beautiful. "Maybe not yet, but I can already _see_ it. I can be a hero!"

She was smiling. And it wasn't one of her trademark smirks, but a true smile, product of happiness not even the always collected Hitomi could hide.

"C-cute," he voiced his thoughts.

"What?"

"I, um," as much as he tried, he couldn't lie about something so shockingly pure and precious, "I just said y-your smile is cute."

The girl stared at him. Her pale skin wasn't helping her to mask how his words affected her.

He expected her to tease him back, or to make a snarky comment in response. But she didn't.

Suddenly Izuku became hyper-aware of her eyes. How gorgeous they were. That indigo purple of them -the same color as her hair- was like an indomitable maelstrom about to swallow him alive.

And he wouldn't mind at all.

Also, her lips, they were in their own tier.

So distracted he was, it took him a moment to notice they were getting closer and closer to each other. Though, he wasn't sure who was the one moving. Was it she or he…? Or both?

But then a happy-sounding song ruined the moment, coming from Hitomi´s bag. "_**I ask this guy is he ready to fight and− I take him to the park−**_"

"Uh?" Suddenly avoiding his gaze, the spell broken, Hitomi took out her cellphone. "Ah. My parents sent a message," she commented, trying to sound calm, but her face was still as flushed as a moment ago. "I told them about the training. They are really happy, seems they want to eat lunch outside to celebrate or something. Knowing them, it's probably just an excuse to be all disgustingly lovey-dovey in public…" She cleared her throat. "Anyway, I probably should be going. They are going to pick me up. So, until next week, Midoriya."

Feeling that it was a bad idea to pursue an explanation for what almost happened between them at the moment; he followed her example and tried to act like normal. "T-the same! I hope you h-have a good time, Shinso-san."

But he didn't imagine it, right? They were truly about to kiss each other, and she seemed totally okay about it.

Itsuka wasn't wrong.

Hitomi truly liked him, right?!

"I´ll try." Hitomi only took some steps forward and then stopped. Slowly, she looked over her shoulders; her expression was unsure and a bit nervous. And it was beautiful, just like the rest of her expressions he didn't know yet. "Midoriya, would you like to hang out at my house tomorrow?"

"W-what?!"

"My house. Hang out. Tomorrow," she repeated, faking irritation to hide her nervousness. "My mom has been nagging me about why I haven't introduced you to her yet. And, um, it would be fun. So we would be killing two birds with one rock… Assuming you aren't busy?"

"I'M NOT!" His crush was inviting him to her house. There was nothing on the face of the earth that would stop him from accepting. "I´ll be there!"

She snorted, "Fine. I'll send you the address later. So don't be late -assuming that's even physically possible for you." She waved and walked away.

He couldn't resist smiling like an idiot and threw a punch to the sky.

Then the situation finally registered for him.

He was meeting her parents.

He hadn't even told Hitomi he liked her, and he was already meeting her parents! How many steps did he even skip?!

To say he was distressed when he got home would be to put it mildly.

"Welcome home, Izuku!" said her mother as he entered the house.

"Hi, mom." His intention was to go to his room and brainstorm ideas not to mess up everything. But instead, he stood there, staring at her mother.

This was such a bad idea.

"Mom, can I ask you something?"

"Yes, dear?"

"You know, a friend invited me to hang out with them tomorrow…"

"Who? Kendo-chan?" Inko asked.

He cringed in remembrance. Izuku could still remember how his mother got the first time he mentioned Itsuka to her. Fortunately, she had calmed down after meeting her in person and realizing the orange-haired girl wasn't particularly interested in the opposite sex.

"No. It's not her."

"Oh. Katsuki-kun, then?"

He frowned. Despite the obvious signs that they hated each other, she still somehow thought they were friends. Or that at least, they were civil to each other. "No. Not him, either." Izuku breathed deeply. "It's a club-mate… A g-girl I like."

Inko slowly turned around, her watery eyes wide open as she trembled and made muffled sounds. "M-MY PRECIOUS IZUKUUUU!"

Such a bad idea!

* * *

**Okay! A lot of stuff happened in this chapter. And now that Hitomi finally got into the path to becoming a hero, things are going to get more interesting!**

**If you are wondering, yeah, I gave OFA to Kirishima.**

**My original idea was to be on the safe side and give it to Mirio. But I changed of opinion because… Kiri is best boy and that's it! I'll probably do something with him in this story eventually.**

**I was going to introduce Mei in this chapter too, but it didn't felt right. Too overcharged already, I suppose.**

**So next chapter I guess.**

**Favorite, follow, review, and pass a HAPPY NEW YEAR!**

* * *

_**Hitomi: Hey, Izuku, how do you think I´d look with cat-ears?**_

_**Izumi: Why are you even a-asking something like that?**_

_**Next Chapter - Quirkless**__**. 20% isn't as little as you´d think.**_

_**Hitomi: Who knows? You would look nice, though.**_

_**Izuku: E-eh… You too.**_


End file.
